Anatomy
by Nanuri169
Summary: It's been five years since The Hollow had driven the Mikaelson's apart. Since Elijah is all on his own, without any hope to reconnect with his family, he tries to find a new meaning in life. As he wants to make up for the hundreds of lives he had taken in his thousand years of lifetime, he decides to become chief surgeon of one of New York's best hospitals.
1. Chapter 1

A whole new life. That's what Mila wants to start with. Even though her childhood and her time as a young adult was graced with a normality that not everyone knew. She had been loved by every person around her and maybe she was even a bit spoilt. Not that her family cared. They always had done everything in their power to give her everything the world had to offer. But now she was all on her own. Alone in the world. So far she hadn't found out if she would grow accustomed to being alone. The sad thing is, that Mila didn't have a choice in that matter. For her whole life she was surrounded by people she loved. It's shocking how fast that could change.

Mila had been the only adoptive child by a married couple that couldn't have children on their own. They adored Mila from the second they laid eyes on her when she was a baby. From that day on they had been the perfect little family, living in a small town, living a small town life. Their neighbors were the families' friends, feasting with barbecue parties whenever possible. Her father worked as a constructor and sometimes went on business trips, while his wife, who worked as an assistant to the local vet and his daughter stayed in town and enjoyed the girls-only-time. When Mila decided to visit Med School after college, her parents were equally shocked and utterly proud. They had the horror prejudice of doctors over working and falling into depression and alcoholism, but on the other hand loved the thought of their daughter saving lives and having an incredible career. But what Mila always knew was that they would've supported her whatever she would do.

Med School went perfectly fine for Mila, she always had been a good student and eager to learn. She also had always been good with people while still knowing how to keep a professional distance. And, of course, she had that kind of ill curiosity about everything medical. Being a doctor was her dream and she was living it. Mila had been in her fourth year of residency when everything changed. After Med School she had moved out of her parents' home and went to live with her boyfriend Dan. He was a nurse in the hospital she had taken internships in whenever possible. They had fallen in love there and Mila started working in the small hospital after she graduated and got her Doctor's degree. The couple moved into a small, but cozy flat near their workplace. Another part of the perfect life.

The day seemed to be as usual. Mila worked a long, stressful night shift with lots of drunk people getting hurt and coming to the emergency ward. Together with children with broken bones and very old people having their complaints and aches, these were the usual patients for the young doctor. For most eager resident doctors that would be boring, most of the patients didn't need to get near the OR, but it was what made Mila happy. Nearly every doctor forgot about the 'easy' cases. She had saved quite a share of lives because she took everyone coming for help seriously. Because of her friendly nature towards every person crossing her, she had earned the nick name 'smiley'.

As every Saturday morning, Mila went to see her parents after she finished her shift. They would have a huge breakfast and talk about everything that happened during the week. Afterwards Mila and her mother would prepare lunch and wait until Dan arrived from his morning shift. Mila loved this ritual. They got along so perfectly and seeing her parents happy made the young woman's heart swell. Mila walked down the quiet, clean street that she had seen so often since her childhood. She had learned to drive a bike here, had played with her childhood friends and got her first driving lessons here. So many memories. The young doctor smiled when she saw the house. It wasn't huge, but not too small and mostly made of wood. She remembered how long her father had worked on the porch until it looked good enough for the ambitious constructor. Her little playground in the garden had disappeared as Mila grew up, but she knew that her parents were impatiently waiting for future grandchildren to lit the garden with cheerful playing noises again.

Just as Mila was about to open the creaky front gate, she heard a noise she never had heard before. At first it sounded like a rocket going off on New Year's Eve, but it suddenly grew into a loud boom, the sound of an heavy explosion. The immense repulsion hit Mila and threw her hard on the asphalt of the street. Her clothing ripped and the ground teared through her flesh, leaving multiple scratches and bleeding wounds. A burning piece of wood landed on Mila's stomach and left trace of burnt flesh which made her scream in pain. Besides from a throbbing headache, which she didn't feel at first due to adrenaline in her veins, her head wasn't hurt, so she could quickly stand up and ran towards the destroyed house. Mila couldn't hear her own yelling and the screams of other people storming out of their houses to see what had happened. Everything seemed dull. Later one she would know that it was due to the damage of her hearing organs due to the noise of the explosion, but at that moment Mila only cared for one thing: saving her parents, even though it was obvious that they couldn't survive such a catastrophe.

Someone grabbed the young woman before she could enter the burning ground. She yelled and fought to be let go, but fortunately for her own safety, the man holding her was strong enough to keep the struggling little person away. Mila's angry screams turned into sobbing and crying when realization hit her. They were dead. Gone. Forever. The end of the perfect life of Mila Labonair.

Today Mila thinks that a part of herself died with her parents in that explosion. Somehow she had to learn to life without that. It made her a completely different person. What she wanted changed. She didn't want to be a small town girl anymore. She wanted more, so she broke the strings to her old life.  
Mila didn't even had to do that much. Right after the event, declared as an accident due to a gas leak, everyone treated her with kid's gloves. The chief of the hospital offered her as much off-days she would need, but Mila needed to work. She drowned herself in it, she urged to help people. Her friends and neighbors brought her food and a shoulder to cry on, but she didn't need any of that. It wouldn't bring her parents back to life. Of course Mila knew that she wasn't being fair, they all just wanted to help, but at that time she didn't want any help.

That was until the lovely funeral had taken place. The visits and notes of condolence faded and it left Mila in a deep hole of depression. She hadn't had anything to be angry on. Her anger was the only thing that kept her going, it took her mind off the brutal reality. People started to life their lives again and so should Mila. But she couldn't. Her former friends started to keep distance from her, because they thought that she was going mad. Even Dan drifted away because she pushed him away too often. It took her some weeks until she knew what to do. A mental and physical breakdown made her change things. She nearly slept 3 hours a day, because nightmares of her burnt and torn apart parents started to play off behind her eyelids whenever she closed her eyes. When she didn't try to sleep, she worked, nearly living in the hospital, never taking a break, never lacking of concentration. One day, her body started suddenly revolted. Mila had felt sick for the whole day. She puked everything she ate out and looked pale like a ghost. Just in between caring for patients, she fell down and hit the floor hard, falling unconscious.

The young doctor woke up hours later, hanging on countless IV's, heart rate monitors and oxygen. Dan had been by her side for the whole time, watching her with deep worry. Poor guy, he had to watch his girlfriend go off the deep end without being able to do anything. She signed her discharge papers quickly after, a new plan in her head. When she had reached her flat, she had broken off with Dan, quit her job and started to pack her belongings. It wasn't much, just some clothing and some paperwork so she was ready to take off quickly.

Of course Dan stood by her side and tried to talk her out of it, but she just ignored him. Mila just knew that she wanted to go to New York. It could've been every larger city in the States, but it seemed just far away enough and she remembered that as a child, she had held a resent against the city. When she was 12 years old she had visited the city on a vacation with her parents and she simply hated it. Quite too much people and too much noise. That's exactly the reason why she chose it. She wanted to be a new person, the complete opposite of her old self.

As she was halfway through the country, she had already rented a flat, ordered furniture and had gotten herself a job in a large hospital. Money never had been an issue for her, as her parents handed her quite the amount of money and the salary of a resident surgeon wasn't too bad. A job was also quite easy to get, because she had had excellent grades in Med School and was praised by her former instructing doctors as an excellent young surgeon. Her first shift would start the next day in the evening. Therefore she didn't have that much time to think, which was fortunate.

Her first evening alone consisted of Chinese takeout and Netflix on an old mattress, as her furniture wouldn't arrive until tomorrow.

The next day, Mila noticed that it was getting better. She wasn't reminded of what she had lost all the time. It was the best choice she could've made. Mila had finished arranging things in her flat when it was time to get ready for work. For some seconds she admired her work and was proud of herself. She had proved of her good taste. A bystander would've said that it looked cozy and yet stylish. Someone looking behind the facade would've seen that it was impersonal. No pictures or trinkets made the flat look like someone really lived here. But personality wasn't Mila's number one problem right now. She put her long her in a high ponytail and left her face nearly untouched of any make up. It wouldn't make sense, she was there to work, not to look pleasing. Grabbing her bag, she strutted to the door, but coming to the stop before she opened it.

Closing her eyes for a second, she took a deep breath, before taking all of her courage to walk into her new life.


	2. Chapter 2

On busy days in her old workplace, up to 5 people came to the ER, mostly drunk teens that played terribly dangerous games on the bridge leading over the river, or have tripped and fell on their way home. Some broken legs, concussions or unconsciousness due to too much alcohol, but noting too serious. Mila and her colleagues had treated them one after another, fixed the broken bones in the OR, sent them back home and went to the patients that had to stay longer. The young doctor remembered nearly every face she treated in the hospital. All people had been nice, most of them knew her parents, violence committed to the staff was never an issue.

She already heard the horror stories from hospitals of bigger cities, but Mila couldn't imagine that patients could be dangerous for her, that she had to be careful with suspicious looking people. Or that she had to treat convicted criminals. When she did some research about her new workplace, she found out that the hospital worked closely together with the cities' jail. A shiver ran down her spine, but she was surprised about herself. She never thought that she could've prejudices towards her patients. Mila needed to stop being a small town girl. This wasn't the place to be small minded, she had to be friendly to everyone, she had to treat everyone the same. The staff around her was pretty busy. They barely noticed her when she entered the office she was instructed to go to. Nurses rushed by, grabbing papers from the tables and speaking short sentences to the secretaries. The women in their middle ages didn't even lift their heads to look at the person talking to them. But it didn't seem like a sign of disrespect, it just works like that here. Mila hesitated for some time and looked around, pulling at her fingers in stress. Taking all of her courage, she approached one of the secretaries who gave her a whole stack of papers without greeting her.

"Fill in your data and sign down there. The other one's must be signed by your mentor and the chief of surgery by the end of the week."

The young woman nodded and tried to put the paperwork in her bag without damaging it. This would have to wait until she finished her shift.

"Who'll be my mentor?"

Her question made the worker rip her gaze away from her computer and gave Mila an annoyed look. It implied that her words made her sound like she was out of her mind.

"No one has time to really mentor anyone. Just let it sign by someone in dark blue scrubs and you'll be fine."

Again Mila nodded, being utterly confused. In her old residency program it was perfectly normal for every resident to have their mentor. It was nice having a person of trust to come to and the older doctors had contact to the younger with their brilliant new ideas. Time seemed to be an issue in New York. The woman facing her explained the way to the changing room with lockers and to the ward she was supposed to work at. She thanked the secretary with a smile, which the woman returned with a look of pity. With a determined expression, Mila went to follow the instructions but got utterly lost. The signs scattered around the walls didn't make any sense and the people she asked just ignored her.

After nearly half an hour, a year one intern was nice enough to lead the way to the changing room. He had a kind smile, but looked pretty exhausted and released a deep breath when he reached his locker.

"I'm Mila. Thanks for showing me the way."

The young man just smiled, but didn't reply anything. Mila knew how the newbie doctors where treated so she thought bonding with one of them would be a good idea. But she would quickly understand why making friends wasn't easy here. She was the one standing in the middle. Her status as 'the new girl' excluded her from the residents that were n the same year as her, but she also was 5 years away from the people that just graduated from med school. The senior doctors seemed to be a whole different species. Again a thing Mila didn't know. In her home all the doctors had somehow sticked together and even had lunch together, they also got along well with the nurses and every other staff member. But here sharp lines seemed to be drawn between the groups. She should get used to it. Sighing, Mila changed into her light blue scrubs and went to her ward. She already figured out that she should go to the chief resident, he or she had to know where she should help at. Her pace quickened as she saw that she was pretty late after getting lost on her way here, so she scanned the name badges on the other doctor's coats until she approached Dr. Blake, a small blonde woman with a permanent frown on her face, writing on some papers.

"You must be Dr. Labonair. Welcome. You're too late."

She didn't even look up from her clipboard to recognize the new staff member. Well, at least no one would treat her with kid's gloves. That was all Mila had wished for for the last few months. Before she could open her mouth to excuse herself, she was interrupted.

"I don't have time for an excuse. You're needed in the ER, follow me...and take this."

Dr. Blake handed her a tablet computer and rolled her eyes before starting to walk off quickly. Mila was in a hurry to follow her.

"They're starting to change the systems to those fancy little gadgets. The ward here still has good old clipboards with papers, but the ER already works electronically. Money issues and so on. The computers are all connected so the examinations the interns already made on your patients should be in there."

It was all so much, but somehow it filled Mila with an unbelievable joy. There wouldn't be anyone that would judge her for working too much and this steady stream of busyness around her pleased her. And the cases she saw on the computer...that was more than her old hospital had in year and they seemed all so interesting!

Mila was so occupied with being in awe with the gadget and reading quickly through the files to be prepared that she crashed into something. When she looked up, she saw that it wasn't something, but someone. Her hands were on his chest to prevent her head from crashing into the hard muscles.

"I'm so sorry!"

She quickly apologized and looked the person she crashed into in the eyes. They were of a chocolate color and had an amused spark in it. A slight hint of a smile lit the handsome feature of the tall man. Mila had to rip her gaze away from the depth of his eyes. She always had been good in reading people and the mere seconds of looking at him had her known that this man had hell of a story to tell.

"It's alright."

His deep voice was calm, without any hint of stress or rush in it. It seemed pretty much out of place for here, as everyone seemed to be in a hurry. Mila only noticed that he had steadied her with his hands, when he gently pushed her aside at her shoulders. He walked past her and Mila looked over her shoulder to spare him a confused glance, but he didn't turn back around. She shook her her head at her own pathetic actions.

"You just crashed into Dr. Mikaelson, chief of surgery. Congratulations!"

Dr. Blakes sarcastic voice blurted from beside her and Mila was ripped back into reality. She cursed herself in her mind, that was a great way to introduce herself to her new boss. Of course, he handled it nicely and didn't seem to mind, but she was a newbie and already showed herself as clumsy. Great feature for a future surgeon! But again Mila was ripped from her inner monologue when they reached the ER. It left the young doctor even more in awe. She never saw so much busyness as in here. People rushed and ran between beds, stations and trauma rooms, some carried racks filled with medical equipment with them. Doctors and nurses yelled instructions, people screamed in pain. From the words people spoke to each other, Mila heard that a bigger car accident had taken place with quite a lot of bad bone and head injuries. But for today Mila wasn't part of the action, she was sent to the other, less seriously injured patients waiting for treatment. She took a deep breath before she slung her stethoscope around her neck and went to the first bed. The patient was a 25-year old pregnant woman. Mila approached them. The young woman was on the bed, holding her belly, a young man her age, probably her boyfriend stood beside her with a worried expression. It was cute. The doctor smiled friendly and dragged the curtain behind her shut.

"I'm Doctor Labonair. You're name is Davina Claire, right?"

The eyes of both the people in front of her widened as Mila told her name.

"Labonair?!"

They blurted out in unison which made her frown. What was so strange about her name? Yes, it sounded French as her origin laid in New Orleans, but she knew a lot of people with similar names. Her parents had wanted Mila's last name to stay as it was when they adopted her out of the orphanage to honor her roots.

"Um, sorry, we just now some Labonairs, but never mind, thousands of people in America must carry that name." The man caught himself sooner and explained with a charming smile, but Mila had noticed the glance the couple had exchanged. But Mila just dropped the topic, maybe they were just upset. "Ok...well, Miss Claire, can you please tell me what happened?"

Again her boyfriend raised his voice to speak.

"She tripped over a curbstone and fell. Her head could be injured, you see the wound up there? By the way, she's 5 months pregnant."

Mila had suppress the urge to roll her eyes. She always had hated guys that spoke for their girlfriends and acted so dominant as if they owned them.

"I think Miss Claire can speak for herself, Mr..."

She let her voice flow out in a question mark to ask for his name. It was always good to be able to approach the relatives with their names. But suddenly the young, tall man seemed to be distracted. His gaze was directed towards something behind her and Mila looked over her shoulder instinctively. Dr. Mikaelson, the doctor she crashed into some minutes before stood next to a desk. His hand that held a pen was frozen in motion over some papers, his eyes stared right into the one's of her patients boyfriend. "Sir?" Mila pulled up a brown and tried to approach him again. He seemed taken aback by her voice and look back to her, but his face seemed deep in thought and somehow angered. What was going on with this guy?

"Mikaelson. My name is Kol Mikaelson."

Wow, another one of those Mikaelsons. What a coincidence.

"Mikaelson as in Dr. Mikaelson chief of surgery of this hospital?"

Mila mused, connecting the similarity of the two men. Kol looked like a younger version of Dr. Mikaelson, he just didn't seemed that kind, she estimated him as arrogant and mischievous.

"Yes, he's my brother. But Davina is of interest here."

...And he was pretty rude. She honestly hoped that this wasn't a families' trait, a rude chief wasn't good. OR experience was of great importance for a resident and OR time was distributed by senior doctors, which were supervised by the chief. Mila needed to show that she was talented enough to be a good surgeon, but if that guy told his brother that she mistreated him or his girlfriend, her career would be over. Mila spared another glance over her shoulder, but Dr. Mikaelson had disappeared. Strange. Shouldn't he at least greet his brother? Only she could tell her if there were any signs of other injuries aside from the visible ones. She gave Davina a smile and it seemed to calm the girl.

"Is there any pain on your stomach? Like here?"

Mila gently put pressure to some points of Davina's lightly swollen belly. She shook her head, which was a good sign. The doctor went on examine the wound on her forehead.

"This must be stitched, I'll send someone from plastic surgery for you. I'll do an ultrasound to look if your babies' alright. But I would like to keep you here for the night, just to preclude a concussion and for your child's safety."

Kol looked displeased until his girlfriend nudged him and he rolled his eyes, but smiled. Mila nodded and went to get the ultrasound.

...

Elijah had been filling out some paperwork for the surgeries he was going to perform when he watched the new resident rush from the door to patient's bed. Something in her facial features seemed familiar, but he couldn't point out what. There was also a strange feeling deep inside him, when he saw her. He couldn't remember her name, as employing staff wasn't his matter of attention, he just signed them off, without really looking at their names or anything. The vampire noted for himself that he should have a look at the list to learn her name. He didn't like it when he couldn't approach his staff with their names.

When he looked at her again, her back faced him as she talked to her patient. But before he lowered his eyes again, he met the gaze of the person standing next to bed. It recognition hit him. He hadn't seen his brother Kol for five years now. They weren't supposed to meet here. The danger of the part of the Hallow that lingered inside the brother's coming to surface and try to connect to each other was too high. Five years ago Vincent told his family that they couldn't see each other again if they wanted to save Hope. Of course they did everything they could to get the Hallow out of Elijah's niece, even if it meant the end of Always & Forever. Since then the Miakelson's hadn't seen each other again, as they had scattered as far away as possible from each other. At first, it kicked Elijah into a deep depression. He was alone. For the first time in a thousands years he was really disconnected from his family. Of course he had spent his fair share of years alone before, but this time it was different. Just the knowledge of not being able to see his family ever again made him doubt his whole existence. It was this hospital that got him back to life again. He found sense in his immortality, because he was able to save people's lives. Quickly Elijah grabbed his clipboard and disappeared from the ER, before anything unforeseen could happen. It was hard for him to walk away from his brother, but he had no choice.


	3. Chapter 3

The night shift turned out to be terribly long until the first break Mila could take to grab something to eat. Still, time had passed so quickly as she was so busy treating all those people in the ER. She had treated more patients in those hours than in a whole week at her old workplace. Mila would count this first half of the shift as successful, as all the patients she was supposed to treat were either on their way home, or led to their hospital rooms. She hadn't gotten close to the OR, but she didn't expect that on her first day.

Where she hadn't been that successful in was to find someone sighing her papers. As she was shy about directly going to the chief, she pushed that matter back for later and started to ask senior doctors to take over her mentorship. But everyone had refused, either ignoring her or brushing her off with a mumbled comment about 'annoying new residents'. Of course she understood that they all lacked of time, but the secretary had told her that she just needed it signed and that this mentor-thing was more or less non-existent. She gave up after Dr. Blake answered her rueful asked question with an annoyed sigh.

"Taking mentorship means that everything you screw up in the OR comes back at the senior, implying that he or she taught you wrong. Usually, the residents are here from their first day after med school, so the seniors can pick their favorite pupils out and find trust in them. You missed that spot. Sorry."

It was clear that she didn't feel any pity, as the 'sorry' was spat out in an aggressive tone and Mila got the message that she should just vanish. With a defeated look, she went into the cafeteria and got into the long row waiting for a snack. She was surprised that even the cafeteria was busy at that time in the night. Back in her home town, doctors needed to bring their own food for the night shift, as the cafeteria was closed after 8 p.m. But here doctors, residents and seniors, nurses, visitors and other staff sat on chairs while chatting and eating.

Mila ordered a salad and looked around, trying to find a place to sit. Some residents were gathered around a table and Mila thought about joining them, but then she noticed their lingering stares, as if they wanted to find out if she was real competition or not. They giggled and whispered when she walked past them and found a lone table near the windows. How childish. It was still like in high school, the new one would never really integrate properly. But here it was only worse, because they were all like sharks, trying to bite away everyone that meant competition for what they wanted, in their case surgery experience. They kept the sharks around them that they knew and couldn't get rid of, keeping them in a careful distance but knew their weaknesses. Mila, as the new shark in the pool, was unpredictable to them. But surely they had heard that she was transferred from a small town hospital, so they wouldn't take her seriously.

 _Good, I'll enjoy their mouths hanging wide open when they see how good I am_ , Mila thought while taking a bite off her salad.

Her thoughts were interrupted when suddenly someone appeared next to her. She nearly chocked on her food as she winced out of surprise.

"Jumpy?"

Her former patients' boyfriend, Kol Mikaelson, stated snarky. Mila coughed, trying to get herself together again.

"No, just surprised. What are you doing here? Is Miss Claire fine?"

Kol looked down at the little doctor. She was so small and didn't even look like the other Labonair he knew. Maybe it was just coincidence. But he had to find out, because coincidence often wasn't the answer to questions in his world. Still Kol was sure that she didn't look like a werewolf. These beasts carried a certain confidence she definitely didn't have. She seemed to shrink under his stare.

"Well, no, she isn't. Her room is quite too small! And she has to share it! I want that changed. By the way, I wouldn't call that food what you give her. She likes orange juice, make sure someone gets her some."

The Original complained in a determined tone. He knew he sounded arrogant, but he didn't care. This girl was nobody, just some incapable staff, but Davina...she meant the world to him and he wouldn't have her mistreated.

Mila rolled her eyes and continued eating, before she could say something she would regret, which drove Kol nuts. His fist slammed onto the wooden table, making the salad bowl shake and her coke slosh over the edge of the glass to get her attention. Now everyone's eyes were of them as it was loud enough to not only get Mila's attention.

She swallowed down her food, trying hard to choke down her anger. This situation was dangerous, but somehow, she wasn't afraid. Courage flooded her veins and she stood up and looked up to Hol's face, chin high, which looked pretty funny as she was much smaller than him and stared directly into his eyes.

"Look, I'm neither a waitress, nor your personal slave. I'm a doctor, I help people. You can get her food and juice herself after going to the end of the row over there and for the other matter you can ask nicely at the nurse's station. I'll come over in an hour and check Miss Claire's and her baby's vitals personally."

Her voice was cool, emphasizing 'nicely'. After her speech, she grabbed her half empty bowl and left Kol standing there, as he steamed with anger. Mila placed the bowl on the dirty dishes tray and left the cafeteria with the slight hint of a smile. She knew she would get into trouble for this, but she was proud of herself.

...

"Dr. Labonair!"

Dr. Blake yelled after she passed between two patients' room. Mila stopped, closing her eyes for a second. She knew that this weren't good news by the woman's tone.

The younger doctor turned around, facing the chief resident. Her argument with the chief of surgeries' brother had already taken rounds throughout the hospital, the whispering and chatting when she was near turned worse. What she didn't expect was to see a little smile on Dr. Blake's face. It wasn't mischievous, it looked like a 'well done, girl'. That's when Mila understood. Dr. Blake was also a strong woman among males that didn't take her serious. But now she was their boss and she could be proud of herself, because she stood up against all those idiots.

"Dr. Mikaelson wants to have a chat with you after your shift. He'll be in his office."

Mila nodded and went on her way. This definitely wasn't good. Well, she insulted his brother right in his face, what did she expect? She prayed that he would fire her, she needed that job badly. Going back home wasn't an option.

She dragged out the end of her shift as long as she could. Fortunately, when she got to check on Davina Claire, her annoying boyfriend was gone. The young woman was actually pretty nice, she even apologized for causing trouble. Mila brushed it off with a smile and was happy to announce that she and her baby were fine and that she could leave the hospital in the morning.

As Davina was her last patient, she now had to go to the chief's office. Her hands were sweaty because she was anxious. She dried them off on her trousers and took a deep breath in before she knocked on the door.

"Come in."

His deep masculine voice spoke. Mila noticed that she liked the sound of his voice, it fitted perfectly to his appearance.

She opened the door and Dr. Mikaelson looked up and motioned for her to sit on a chair so she was facing him. Mila would've preferred to hide under it, but she did as she was told.

"I was told that you had some errands with my...brother."

His voice sounded somehow cool when he spoke the word 'brother', which stroke Mila strange. It nearly was emotionless. As if talking about his brother was something disturbing. But before she could think about it more deeply, she started to apologize, even if she knew that she wasn't really sorry, but if it would safe her job, she would choke down her pride.

"You don't need to apologize, Dr..."

He hesitated again and frowned when he looked down to read her name. Then he looked up again and for a second she could've sworn that she saw a hint of recognition in his eyes, but it was gone within the blink of an eye and his face was blank again.

"...Labonair."

What was it about her name that everyone here kind of found strange? This would need further investigation. Hell, it was just a name!

"I think I need to apologize for his behavior. Of course I'll take the matter into my own hands."

This disarmed Mila completely and ripped her off all her prepared speeches. Never would she expected that. She looked at him unbelievingly. It must've looked pretty silly as Dr. Mikaelson showed an amused smile. Mila coughed to get in line again and set up straight. She's a doctor after all, she should show some confidence and competence towards her chief.

"Thank you, Dr. Mikaelson. It'll never happen again...Um...As I'm here right now and I don't want to waste your time any longer, could you please sign this?"

With slightly shaking hands she handed him the paper where the sign of the chief of surgery was required. Mila had no clue why he intimidated her that much, but he just had this aura of power radiating off him, while still looking so casually relaxed. He signed the paper but also scanned through the other pages, stopping on the section of mentorship. His eyes came up to look at her shaking figure for a second, before looking down again.

"You can't find anyone to mentor you, don't you?"

Clenching her hands into fists, she nodded. What was that about competence? She couldn't even find someone who would be her mentor in surgery. If that wasn't calling for failure. Dr. Mikaelson sighed and filled his name in and signed the paper, too, volunteering to be her mentor. Again Mila's eyes widened and she grabbed the edge of the desk.

"You don't have to do that! I'll find someone else..."

He smiled, something that didn't happen often to his features, Mila could say. Little wrinkles deepened around his eyes. Like that he even looked friendly.

"But I want to. I've never been a mentor since I'm here. It's only fair."

This was just too much for Mila. Why was he, out of all people, nice to her? No one had shown kindness towards her, but he did. She was grateful for that, but also was deeply embarrassed that she relied on his will.

"Dr. Mikaelson, I..."

He stood up and gently but his hand on the small of her back to lead her to the door. His hand was firm, but still gentle as he was nearly throwing her out.

"It's an order, Dr. Labonair. Enjoy your day."

With that, he closed the door behind her. Mila stood there frozen, not knowing what just had happened. Her shift was over, but she didn't know where to go, as her little flat would be too lonely for all of her thoughts. This would be messier than she thought it was.


	4. Chapter 4

Elijah had committed his day to find out more about Mila Labonair. The new resident that left quite the impression on him. She seemed to be a very passionate girl, as she was brave enough to stand up to Kol, but on the other hand being so thankful when Elijah took over her mentorship.

Taking it over was a clever. He would be able to keep an eye on her, while he could still dictate where and when she would assist in surgery. Elijah hoped to get some personal information out of her. Things that the files did not tell him.  
What her files did tell him was, that she really was an heir of the Labonair family. She was Hayley's sister - her twin to be precise as they both shared the same date of birth. But still there were many questions out in the open concerning her adoption. Other than Hayley, Mila was given up for adoption right after her birth. She was adopted by a rather nice, normal couple that lived in a small town for their whole life. After some research, he found out that her adoptive parents died in an explosion caused by a gas leak. Elijah didn't believe a word of it. Mila definitely was special, as she lived a complete different life as her sister, kept as far as way from any supernatural presence as possible. It seemed that somehow that was on her tabs found her. The question is if killing her parents was a warning or if it just got the wrong people.

Elijah assumed that Dr. Labonair came to New York to start over after her parents' death. If she only knew how dangerous this was, the city was filled to the edges with supernatural creatures, including Elijah himself. Maybe that's what draw him here. He wouldn't call himself king, but all the other creatures of the night knew that they needed to respect him. It could be that Mila also was drawn to her species, as she must be a werewolf herself. But from her files he found out something even more interesting: it seemed that she hadn't triggered her curse so far. In her old workplace she never lost a patient on her behalf. No records of recurring free nights during full moons. She also didn't recognize him as a vampire, which could mean that she didn't even know about what she truly was.

It would be better for her if it stayed like that, Elijah thought. He nearly got no sleep during the night as he was discussing about whether telling her or not with himself. Of course it would be safer for her if she knew what was lurking in the shadows behind her; that she possibly was in danger herself. But on the other hand it would ruin her life even further. Sometimes, with not knowing about her inheritance, she would behave more naturally human, which would draw less attention, as she seemed just like a normal, but intelligent young doctor.

But the name Labonair was cursed and their enemies weren't the common ones, as Elijah himself had faced them very often. With her name, The Hallow came with it. A living Labonair, which she would be the only one aside from his niece Hope, meant danger for the likely indestructible spirits' existence. As Elijah carried a part of The Hallow inside him, he felt her strong presence when he was near her. He felt the confusing urge of killing her by sucking her dry, but at the same time this little steady voice inside him whispered to him, that she needed to be protected at all cost. It seemed like the spirit itself did not know if Mila's existence was a threat or a gift. This would need further investigation, as it went back to his suspicion that Mila differed from her twin sister.

What worried Elijah more than his own urges, which he was sure to have in control, were the lackeys of the Hallow that still lingered all over the world. He needed to keep an eye on her even outside their work to make sure she wasn't hurt. There even was the possibility that she was the clue to destroy the Hallow once and for all. But Elijah didn't really care about it. He lived all fine with the spirit inside him, he didn't even feel it that often. To be honest he wasn't hell bent on reuniting with his family. The Original didn't care about them anymore. His life was nearly perfect the way it was. He had power and still he found sense in his existence. The supernatural creatures around him feared him and in the human world he was a successful and respected man.

Elijah didn't really know why he was so eager to help this girl, maybe he just felt bad for her. She seemed so innocent and yet so eager to learn how to save lives. But maybe it was what he felt about her aside from the things The Hallow whispered to him. He felt a deep sympathy for her. She was a woman that he respected, as she was strangely talented and gifted as a doctor, but still she was so passionate about everything. He didn't want that to change because the savagery of his world could consume her.

First of all, he needed to waste all of her talent, even if it was sad. He needed her to stay away from the OR, or at least she couldn't let her do more than assisting in surgery. If she would loose a patient while she performed surgery on her own, which was usual in her state of residency, she would trigger the gene. She would hate him for that, but it was for her own good.  
Second, he would need to follow her and get to know her better. In this city, she was just steps away from someone else finding out about her existence. Which would make her easy leverage. But Elijah could protect her, he could save her life and her innocence. For as long as he could.

Mila's first week in New York was though, but at the same time so releasing for her. She worked so much, she learned so many new things and helped so many patients. Adrenaline was inside her body for the whole day, so she slept well at nights. The nightmares were still there, but at least they disappeared showing at daytime.  
Still, she had trouble bonding with her colleagues. Mila ate all on her own, the other's were either ignoring her or were spreading rumor about her. 'Dr. small ass' or 'country girl' were a few of the nicer names they had given her. Some of the men tried to hit on her, but she always brushed them off with a snarky comment. It made it worse. At least it stayed with the verbal abuse.

Dr. Mikaelson still was the only one that handled her like every other here. Mila could've sworn that he was even a tad bit nicer. He always greeted her whenever they crossed paths with a friendly smile and discussed interesting patients with her. That was her favorite time of the day, when she was in one of the examination rooms, where they discussed X-Rays and CT-scans and explained his plan of treatment and sometimes he even asked for her opinion, which made her terribly happy as she finally could show her knowledge. But she had the feeling that he was keeping her away from the OR. He only let her assist in one surgery, an easy case of broken femora after an accident. Mila tried to not think about it too much, it was her first week after all.

The hospital kind of forced her to have a free Saturday, which Mila wasn't too happy about. She knew with the free time the nightmares would come back. The desperate need of keeping herself busy was still there even after a hard week of work, so she decided to explore the city a bit. If she was her own patient, she would've suggested herself to think about therapy, but she couldn't give in into her weakness. She wasn't sure if talking to someone about it would make it better and if the other staff would find out...better not think about it.

After she pushed her way through some of the tourist-routes and sights, she decided to spent her evening in a pub a bit farer away from the mass of people. Mila found a nice looking place not too far away from her apartment. It wasn't overcrowded with people, but still there were groups and single persons around, so she would be quite busy observing their habits. She needed to adapt to the city-life as soon as possible and knowing what the people living here did was a good start.

The young doctor took a seat at a barstool between a lone man and another woman in her late twenties who was talking to her partner. She ordered herself a wine, which got her some looks from the bartender and the guy next to her. Wine didn't seem to be the common drink of choice, Mila noted. Maybe she should become a beer girl...that always was a save pick.

Mila took a look around the Etablissement. Most people were chatting happily, some drunk laughs came to her ears. A group of young man played around jokingly with the old, dusty piano, which made a terrible noise. She turned around again when the bartender handed her the wine and she took a sip of it. It wasn't even that bad, it just tasted old, which wasn't a surprise as it probably stood around unopened for months...or years.

All of a sudden, a rich sound filled her ears, which made her turn around after she placed the glass back at the table. Someone had banished the boys away from the piano to sit down and play the clear, somehow sad sound of 'una mattina'. This song meant so much for her, as it was her mother's favorite song. She had played it so often, Mila knew every shade of it. Pictures of her mother in their living room playing it, while Mila sat next to her, listening. For the first time since the accident, a memory she cherished came to her mind. Before there were just scenes if her parents' dying in front of her. But this made her goosebumps in a good way.

But what shocked her even more was the person who played it on the old, but surprisingly well sounding piano. At first, she couldn't see who it was, as she just saw short, dark hair and broad shoulders covered in a plain t-shirt. His face was lowered and facing the keys. But when he suddenly looked up, his chocolate eyes directly bore into hers, as if he was looking deep into her wounded soul.

"Dr. Mikaelson..."

She whispered and it the slightest hint of a smile was on his lips, but there was no possibility that he could've heard her low voice. Mila was completely captivated by his gaze and the sound of him playing. It was prefect, he played without making any mistakes. For a moment, everything around her silenced and she felt like she was alone with him in the room, as if he was playing just for her.

When he closed his eyes bowed his head back down to fully enjoy the sound, the spell was broken. She lightly shook her head at her pathetic thoughts, but still she couldn't look away. He looked even more attractive when he was so deep into his play, he was so peaceful, happy...A smile came to Mila's lips. After the last tunes of the song came to an end, Mila was able to turn back around, hoping that Dr. Mikaelson wouldn't approach her. She already had behaved pretty silly and she wasn't ready for chit chat with her boss. Mila took the glass of wine back in her hand and lifted it to her red painted lips. But before she could take another sip, a certain deep voice sounded close to her ear.

"I wouldn't drink that."

Surprised she stopped before drinking and looked at him confused. Dr. Mikaelson had already turned to the guy sitting next to her.

"This lovely gentleman here had the audacity to spoil your drink..."

His voice was low, nearly a growl, which made Mila shiver in fear.

"I recommend you vanish, before I remember what I usually do to abominations like you."

Elijah's eyes were cold as ice, the melting chocolate color had turned darker, his figure was intimidating. The man he was referring to exchanged a glance between Mila and Elijah, fear visible on his face. Without another word he stood up and disappeared. Dr. Mikaelson took the seat next to her, grabbed the glass of wine and emptied it into the sink on the other side of the counter.

"Thank you, Dr. Mikaelson."

He examined the empty glass in his hand, so Mila couldn't read the expression on his face, as he already scared her enough with his little outburst. That's what he was since he parted ways with his family. Elijah became more reckless, but he had to keep himself in line around her. She was too vulnerable.

"I noticed you have a connection to the song I played."  
The Original stated plainly, not commenting on the former incident. Mila sighed, not knowing if she should say anything. He was the chief of surgery after all. She turned her gaze away, trying to avoid answering, but he seemed to have guessed her thoughts.

"Dr. Labonair, this isn't the hospital. It's a bar. Let's just be a man and woman in bar tonight. My name is Elijah by the way. Of course just for tonight."

His glance was serious when he urged her to look at him. Never had she met someone with eyes that intense. They told numerous stories, she just couldn't decipher them.

"Than it's Mila...for tonight. My mother used to play this song very often, it was her favorite. She died alongside my father some weeks...or is it already months? ago."  
She looked down on the counter, trying not to cry. It was the first time she admitted to a stranger that her parents were dead. Is that called processing? Maybe it was a first step towards it.

Elijah was a perfect listener. He didn't ask any questions, he just sat there, paying attention, sometimes nodding, sometimes examining her facial features. Mila knew that she was giving away too much of her private issues away, but it just felt so good to actually talk to someone. She told him about the funeral, about how the people treated her afterwards, about how she quit her old life and decided to come here. Mila drowned the one or the other scotch he had ordered for them and she felt that she was becoming slightly tipsy. She was a good drinker, as she usually always stayed clear in her head, sometimes just her legs grew a bit wobbly.

"As a doctor I would recommend therapy. But what I really think is, that it is alright to grieve in every way you want to. The problem is, that you don't have a person to watch your limits."

Elijah drowned another drink, the feeling of emptiness spreading in his body again. He should now how pain and grief felt, but he couldn't remember it. That's what compulsion does, it leaves a big hole where memories should've been. He knew that he was better off without his family and these memories, but sometimes the loneliness consumed him.

"You don't have such a person yourself, don't you?"

Now it was Mila that looked right into his soul and she saw that he was just as damaged as she was. Of course she didn't wanted him to feel as bad as she did, but somehow she drew comfort out of the fact that she wasn't alone.  
Elijah spared her a side glance. She surprised him even more with every second he spent with him. Shortly, his eyes lingered on her neck, but then went back to her dark eyes. Even though she had drunken quite the amount of alcohol, she still had a sharp mind. He needed to be careful, he couldn't give away too much.

"No, I don't."

Silence erupted and Mila watch the liquid in her glass moving as she moved her wrist in circles. It wasn't awkward, it was merely comfortable. Most of the other people in the pub had left.

"Maybe we should be that person for one another. We both seem to be lone wolfs in this big city and we could just be there to talk about what no one else could understand. Like...friends."

She let the word roll of her tongue, as if she wanted to taste the sound of it coming out of her mouth. Mila hadn't had much friends in her life and no one she would call a trusted one. Her parents had been there for her, whenever she needed to talk, but most things she had kept for herself. Maybe Elijah would open a new opportunity for her. Maybe it was good that they barely knew each other, it would keep them the objective view of the other. The honest opinion.  
"I would like that."

Elijah looked at her with an unreadable expression and went of the barstool shortly after. He held out his arm for her like the perfect gentleman and he escorted her home. They didn't speak another word and just enjoyed the comfortable silence. 


	5. Chapter 5

The free day brought room to think for Mila. It wasn't what she most wanted to do right now, as she would've loved to drown herself in work again, but she couldn't let herself be chased by the ghosts of the past forever.

As she hadn't much to do except for cleaning her apartment a bit and watching some television, the flashes of scenes haunted her mind. Even when she unpacked her favorite books about medicine she was reminded of her parents, as they bought most of them for her. She clutched her issue of Gray's Anatomy that her parents had given her when she started med school close to her chest, closed her eyes and took a deep breath in. Good memories, painful, but still good. This was progress.

Yesterday she had been able to talk about it, to actually admit what had happened. To a man she barely knew, who was by the way her boss. She couldn't believe it. Her thoughts wandered off to this man. Dr. Mikaelson. Elijah. When he played the piano Mila had the feeling that a bond existed between them and for a moment knew that 'una mattina' matched his soul. Sad, wounded, but still with hope for happiness. But now it seemed faded, Mila hated herself of acting that silly. What she spoke about being friends...she meant every word of it and was even more surprised when Elijah agreed. That too felt different today. The moment was gone, the feeling of comfort was barely a memory. She didn't know what would happen when she would see him tomorrow at work. Would it be awkward? Had he just been nice to a lonely girl in a bar that on the edge of driving mad? Again she risked her career because she carried her heart on her tongue. She simply was that person that couldn't hide anything. Her emotions were always visible on her face.

In the evening she couldn't stay inside her flat anymore. The air was getting thin and her thoughts grew darker by the second. Before she could spent another night with crying herself to sleep and awakening every hour because of the nightmares, she went out again, trying out another pub. It was a bit farer away, but still within walking distance. When she went back after a beer and a nice conversation with the bartender, she decided to go back home, because her shift would start early tomorrow.

The streets were empty and it had already gotten dark outside. Still it was a nice walk as she the pavement went alongside a channel. Streets lights mirrored in the black water so it matched the cloudless night's sky above her. Mila walked slowly, enjoying the silence of the usually so busy and loud city. She closed her eyes and breathed the still sticky air in.

But when she opened her eyes again, she had a sudden bad feeling in her stomach. She felt watched and her pace quickened. Maybe she was just paranoid, but she wanted to get homes soon as possible so she could feel safe again. She looked around, but no one was there. Or at least she thought so.

When she turned back around to continue walking, someone grabbed her by the strings of the backpack she carried with her. It slipped off her shoulders as she was pulled back. The attacker threw it into the canal when he had it in his hands. So this wasn't a robbery. This was worse.

"No!"

She gasped following how the backpack sunk down into the water with her eyes. Not just her phone, her possibility to call for help drowned with it, also Gray's Anatomy, the book she had carried with her to browse through in the bar, was gone forever.

Before she could even think of running away, the stranger got a hold on her by the collar of her shirt. Mila screamed and fought against the rough hands that touched her. A little part of her brain noticed that she actually made a good fight. She was surprised by her own strength, but that might just be the adrenaline.

But all of a sudden he was gone. A moment before she thought that he would rape or kill her, or even both, but then she felt a whoosh of air and she was all alone again. Panic took over and she didn't waste a second before she ran off.

Elijah grabbed the abomination of a man by his throat and pressed him against a wall in a dark alleyway. The Original's upper lip was lightly curled upwards in anger and he had to fight hard with himself to not kill this lad here and now. He didn't know why it affected him so much that she was being attacked, he already had assumed that someone would find out that she wasn't a ordinary girl. But when he grabbed her Elijah simply saw red and he nearly revealed that he had been watching Mila all night long.

The attacker was definitely a vampire as his fangs were still bared at the intruder. But when he recognized Elijah his eyes cleared again and he started to shiver in fear. Rightfully so.

"You...you're an Original..."

He mumbled while still trying to get out of Elijah's grip. But he was much stronger than him, Elijah could kill him with a flick of his wrist. But not before he had answers.

"I particularly am. Now, tell me, why did you come after this girl."

He compelled the younger vampire. Elijah saw his pupils dilate as the spell worked on him. Good to know that New York's vampires didn't take vervain.

"I was looking for a meal and then she was there...she just smelled so good. Extraordinary. But when I came closer I noticed there was something else...the lingering smell of a wolf."

His voice was dull and emotionless as he answered Elijah's question truthfully. So it wasn't just the Original that noticed the alluring smell of her blood. It nearly drove him crazy as closer as he got to her. Another matter for further investigation.

"Does anyone else know that you're here?"

No one was allowed to know that a werewolf with an untriggered gene was walking the streets. Of course she was quite much stronger as other humans, but her strength wasn't anything compared to that of a full wolf or vampire.

"No..."

Elijah smiled lightly and put the vampire back on his feet. A relieved expression was on his face as he seemed to be released.

"Good."

His hand flew through his ribcage as it was nothing. He held the vampire's heart in front if his face as he looked at it with eyes as big as plates in shock. With a last chocking breath he fell to the ground and Elijah dropped his heart on him. The Original stepped over the corpse and continued to follow Mila on her way home. He would call someone else to take care of the matter.

The next day fortunately carried Mila's thoughts away from what happened yesterday. She had went to the police shortly after, but the woman in the office sounded quite bored as Mila told her that she was in safety after an attack. It seemed like an everyday issue. The woman told her that she would sent some officers to the place and that someone would call if they had further questions. Funny thing was that she hadn't had a phone anymore, so she might just accept the thought that she would never hear about it again.

Fear had crept inside her for the rest of the night, but Mila was able to push it away when she went to work. She was sad about the loss of the book she'd held precious.

But the day brought some good things. The hospital finally seemed to have some faith in her and gave her some of the tasks other doctors in her year also had to do. For example being responsible for a group of year one interns. Her colleagues saw it as a burden, but Mila liked having them around. Like that she could help the young doctors find their way into the though hospital routine. Her students were quick to like her, as she was being nice to them and answered all of their questions detailed. Her method of teaching worked out perfectly, she always checked some of their knowledge concerning the cases before they went to the patients and when she later asked them to explain something to the patient their hands shot up eagerly.

When Mila sat down on her usual lonely lunch table, she smiled, satisfied and proud of herself and of her interns. She watched them from distance as they chatted excitedly and had happy facial expressions. Her gaze went down to her usual salad, but before she could shove a fork full of the green leaves inside her mouth, she heard a chair scraping over the floor next to her and saw a flash of dark blue scrubs taking place on the chair. Mila looked up again with wide eyes and Elijah flashed her an amused smile when she saw her look of shock.

"Dr. Labonair."

He nodded in greeting and placed his plate in front of him on the table. The chatting voices around them had silenced as all eyes were on them.  
The chief of surgery, sitting with the newbie resident at lunch. What a scandal! Mila almost could hear their racing thoughts as they spun out new rumor. The particular one that she would hate the most.

"Dr. Mikaelson."

She looked around awkwardly, being met with curious and jealous gazes. It was so childish, but Mila knew what they were thinking. They all would think that she was having an affair with him, why else should he be around this plain boring girl of his free will? Some of them also had seen that they spent quite a lot of them in the rooms for examining X-Rays and CT's. Of course no one would be believe that they were discussing patient's treatment in there anymore. That happens when people judged by their own standards.

"What are you doing here?"

Mila whispered as she tried to concentrate on her food and to not get clumsy out of nervousness. Her hunger suddenly had ceased as everyone was staring at her.

"Isn't it allowed for friends to eat lunch together?"

She nearly chocked on the chicken she ate as he spoke the word 'friends'. So he hadn't decided to politely forget her indiscreet chatter from some nights before. Hell, it wouldn't be easy to get out of it unharmed.

"So you break your promise and get this out of the sacred floor of the bar?"  
Elijah couldn't help but smile. She was cute in her acts of nervousness, but still her voice didn't loose any of its confidence. His eyes secretly examined her face and he was happy to see that she seemed unharmed from the attack last night.  
"Yes, I do. I honestly don't know how this friend-thing works, but I would like to try that out."

Mila was surprised by his words. Never had she thought that a man like him, so powerful, so...attractive like him could be lonely. Usually guys like him were surrounded by people licking his feet. Maybe they were, but Elijah was a person that could look through their acts and see that they weren't real friends.

"I don't know much about that, too. So we should find out together."

Now it was Mila that couldn't contain a smile. She was eerily relieved and happy that she found someone to call a friend here. Someone that she maybe could trust with time. Of course all the talking and rumors were annoying, but she didn't care at all for now.  
The younger doctor curiously looked into Elijah's deep dark brown eyes and took her time to eye his handsome face. He had those classic facial features; a straight nose, high, defined cheekbones and a sharp, strong jawline which made him look like he just sprung out of some very old, historical movie. But what stroke Mila most were his eyes. Except from their beautiful rich color, they looked aged. Like he had already seen too much in his life. But they had a spark in them that made Mila sure that he had so much more to show.  
Elijah ripped her out of her thoughts when he averted his gaze as the moment got too intense and started to speak.

"You don't seem like the person who hasn't got any friends."

Mila chuckled and crossed her arms in front of her chest. She nodded, motioning to the people sitting around them in the cafeteria.

"Look around, there's a reason why no one else cares to join me. I don't know what it is, I usually am pretty likable. But figures I never really made any real friends."

He sat back and suddenly looked deep in thought. The Original had already noticed that her colleagues weren't welcoming towards her. It made him feel angry but he tried his best not to show it. She didn't deserved being handled that mean.

"How was your free day?"

Elijah decided to go on with the topic he had to be careful about. But he needed to know if she had seen more than she should've.

The woman sitting next to him stiffened and she looked away, a pained expression visible on her face. It was fortunate that she was kind of easy to read when it came to her emotions. He liked the fact that she was so truthful. She didn't have any backstabbing features on her.

"It was kind of crazy to be honest. You won't believe me, but someone attacked me when I got home from a pub last night. I know it's silly to walk home alone in the darkness but...he didn't tried to rob anything, he threw my backpack into the channel to be precise and just when I thought he was going to hit me or something, he disappeared."

Mila took a deep breath when she finished speaking. She hadn't thought long before telling him. He somehow had that into him, he was easy to be talked to. His presence was so comfortable and he never judged.

Elijah faked a frown of surprise, but the look of worry in his eyes was real. He vowed to protect her and he would keep that, even if she would never find out about it.

"The next time you don't have company when you want to go home in the night, you call me immediately, ok?"

The doctor was touched by his worry and the light smile came back to her full lips. It felt so good to have someone to care. Even if their friendship was just so fresh and new, she deeply hoped that it would last long.

"My phone drowned with my backpack, my dearest noble protector."

Elijah chuckled and pulled a paper and a pen out of his pocket and scribbled his phone number on it. He handed it to her before glancing at his expensive clock and standing up.

"Text me your number when you have a new phone. See you later, Dr. Labonair."

Mila nodded and waved him goodbye. Her fingers gently stroked over his elegant handwriting on the paper. Hope for her life becoming better know with the help of her knew friend motivated her to get through the rest of the day.  



	6. Chapter 6

"Francesca Johnson and Ivy Johnson, premature twins, born 4 weeks early. Both children need heart transplant, as they showed signs of myocardial degeneration due to identical tumors in the cardiac chamber."

As Mila read the case out loud, her students scribbled down notes eagerly. They looked at Elijah with deep curiosity in their eyes and Mila smiled. She was proud that they were so eager to learn. It was her work and she knew it, they would all become wonderful surgeons and she was the one that lead them a part of their hard way to reach their goal.

"Can someone tell me the risks of transplantation, especially in a case like that?"

Elijah asked and all of the interns hand rose quickly. He held back a chuckle, Mila really did a great job teaching them. This girl was so talented in every way and he wasted this gift. It wasn't fair towards her, but he couldn't risk her activating her gene.

After one of the students answered his question correctly, he turned towards her. He would let her assist, as he was performing the surgery. It was the least he could do to give her a bit experience.

"Dr. Labonair, what's the status of the transplantation list?"

Mila couldn't hold back her smile, she already cared for those children. Of course she knew that she couldn't get too close to her patients, but she couldn't help to at least be nice and happy if they were getting better. Especially children.

"We're getting one heart tomorrow morning and the other in the afternoon. It's a miracle."

The Original was captivated by the sparkle of happiness in her eyes. His smile grew and both of them stared at each other for a moment, shortly forgetting that they weren't alone. They were ripped out of it as the interns started to cough awkwardly.

Mila shook her head to get her thoughts back together and continued to speak.

"...'till then, they need constant surveillance. Dr. Ball, Dr. Smith, I want you to do that. Dr. Mikaelson and I will be close if you got any questions."

Elijah sent the students away to examine the babies together with Mila, as he knew that so many people in a room could make the children nervous and unstable. He lightly set his stethoscope on the boy's chest, while Mila examined the girl.

"Do you think I spoil the interns? I see no one spending that much time on them as I do."

She asked, loosing parts of her self confidence with every day she spent here. Her colleagues laughed at her for being nice to her students and actually teaching them something of course there was this rumor of an affair between her and Elijah. Which was obviously complete bullshit...even if they had a moment from time to time.

"I think you do a wonderful job teaching them, Mila. Don't scale yourself on what the others do, they're all miles behind you. Sometimes our job isn't about getting as much OR time as possible, most of the time the people we help don't need surgery. You help them with actually listen to their problems and taking them serious. The same goes with the interns."

His intense eyes met her again, but Mila looked away, falling to a chair next to the incubator the children were in. She carefully reached through one of holes of the device and lightly touched the babies, hoping to give them comfort.

"Are you alright?"

She smiled lightly when the baby girl's small hand wrapped around her finger. Elijah adored this sight, but was sure that something bothered her.

"Yeah. I'm just not used to not get along with my colleagues. I hate this stupid rivalry. Where I worked before, we were kind of a family. I miss that."

The older surgeon nodded, sad that he couldn't do anything about it. He would only make it worse if he would try to help. That's a part of humanity, sometimes they were nothing but a pain. Elijah needed to be careful, he felt that his task of protecting her was turning into devotion. He couldn't safe her from every misery, especially those outside the supernatural world.

"What else do you miss from your old life?"

Mila tilted her head as she watched the children. It was nice to be herself for that little moment here. A moment where she could just be honest and not shut her mouth or forbid herself to even think about that she missed something.

"Not too much. My home. The carefreeness."

The younger doctor noticed that she didn't miss her ex-boyfriend at all. She thought she had loved him, but now she knew that he was just a part of her old, perfect life. Now she didn't want perfection anymore.

"I hope you'll find another true home here."

She nodded and her expression grew thoughtful. It still was somehow strange for Elijah to see someone that wasn't mysterious or shady. Being truthful was a trait he hoped she would carry forever.

"I got to go. See you later."

Mila grabbed her clipboard and gave a Elijah a last smile before disappearing into the station's hall. She rolled her eyes as she noticed a group of other residents strutting towards her. They laughed when they saw her. This wouldn't be good. She tried to walk in the other direction to avoid the confrontation. But it was too late, they already reached her.

"Oh, look, there's future Mrs chief of surgery! Is it hot to f* the boss?"

Keira, a tall, blonde drop dead gorgeous woman asked. jealousy burned like poison in her eyes. She was supported by her friends laughing. Mila clenched her fists, trying to stay calm, but failing miserably. She trembled in anger. When did she become so temperamental? Of course it hurt, but usually she wouldn't get to a point of anger, where it would become visible.

"Do be honest I have no idea, in contrary to you, I'm just doing my job here."

Her eyes were glued to the papers on her clipboard, as she knew they would add 'freak' to their list of spite, if they would see her eyes that glowed of anger.

"Do you really think anyone here believes you? You came here to get a career by flashing everyone powerful your boobs. I kind of understand, it's to be a village doctor, isn't it?"

"Oh, I would like to see her boobs!"

Someone blurted in between and Mila took a fearful step back, which was a mistake. They only came closer and seeing as no one was looking, one of the male residents grabbed the hem of her scrubs. Mila squeaked and ripped away.

"If I remember right, we all once swore to save human's life. And what do you people do? You humiliate and disrespect people you fear...people you're jealous of...people you see as rivalry. You know what? Without me! I'm doing a better job than all of you together and I won't waste another second of my time to give you bastards any attention."

With that, Mila turned and walked away, leaving them all with their mouths hanging wide open.

Elijah stood behind the group, he heard every word. He crossed his arms in front of his chest and cleared his throat. The residents turned, looking at him in fear. He knew he was intimidating, both physical and of course because he had power over them. Quickly they all scattered in opposite directions. The Original smirked proudly. Mila showed them who was in charge.

Later one, the vampire leaned on a desk, filling out discharge papers. Dr. Blake stood next to him, doing the same. Both of them worked in silence until Mila approached. Elijah saw that she was in a really good mood as she was proud that she had the courage to stay up for herself against her mean colleagues.

"Mrs. Williams in room 202 needs an appendectomy. I thought maybe I...I could do the surgery."

Mila hesitated, but finally was brave enough to ask. She was in flow, having the feeling that everything would be better from now on, as she stopped to be the shy newbie that subordinated herself to the others.

Elijah sighed and flipped through her file, trying to find a reason to explain to her, that she couldn't do it. But there was none. He knew that she would probably do a good job and that the patient would survive, but the risk was too high. What if she got heart failure during surgery?

"I'm sorry, Dr. Labonair, but I'll do it myself. She already has a damaged heart."

Mila frowned, being disappointed. She was sure he thought better of her and believed in her. It was an appendectomy, what should happen?

"Yeah, right, but a damage that doesn't need surgery and it's an appendectomy...and you're a cardiac surgeon...so..."

He put his papers aside and turned to look at her sternly, which confused her even more.

"No discussion. It's not about you, you'll get another chance."

His voice was more distant than he intended it to be and he immediately felt sorry for being so rude.

The younger doctor just shook her head in realization. Her shoulders sank down defeated. She wasn't mad, she was just sad, because he didn't trust her to do it.

"It's alright, I understand. Village doctor and everything."

She turned and quickly got away, feeling deeply embarrassed because she even asked. It was stupid.

"Mila..."

Elijah again sighed and followed her figure with his eyes. He felt so guilty as he would never be able to explain this to her if his plan to protect her would work out.

"You should just tell her. It would make things easier for both of you."

Dr. Blake's voice chirped from behind him. The Original turned to look at the doctor, whose gaze was still on her paperwork.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

His eyes narrowed, trying to stop her from speaking any further. But the blonde seemed unimpressed by his attempts to scare on and continued.

"Oh come on, don't play dumb on me, Dr. Mikaelson. You know that I'm a werewolf and I know that you're an Original vampire playing doctor to ease his heavy weighting guilt."

Her voice was filled with sarcasm. Elijah sighed. Of course he knew everyone who was a supernatural creature in the hospital. Some of the nurses were witches, Dr. Blake's fiancee who worked in the morgue was also a werewolf and Elijah was the only vampire in the hospital.

"So you also know what she is?"

The wolf lifted her head and looked over her shoulder to see Mila's brunette ponytail in the distance, treating ER patients.

"I can sense my own kind. It must be terrible for her. She feels that something changes about herself, that something is off. The feeling of not belonging anywhere, while there're actually dozens of people here that share her gift."

The Original didn't look in the other doctor's eyes as he knew that she was right. Still he was sure that knowing of her own fate would destroy her life.

"Sounds like you speak from experience."

Dr. Blake rolled her eyes, annoyed by his game of pretending that he didn't know everything about her. Of course she knew that he observed her and did his research.

"We both know that you found out that I'm royalty of New York's biggest pack. So no, I don't speak from experience, because I was lucky enough to be raised in full knowledge of my gift. Or curse, however you want to call it. But I welcome a lot of strays to my pack. You would be surprised how many people don't know about their true nature. That's why I work here, a lot of people come to the ER after they accidentally killed someone and triggered their curse. Others are picked up by the police which is also controlled by us."

Elijah also turned his head to Mila, thinking about Blake's words. Being surrounded by her own kind would be good for her...if she would set the curse free.

"That means you want her in your pack?"

The female wolf sighed, he simply didn't get the point. Maybe he was just too old to understand that everyone should make their own choices. Typical vampire.

"I would offer her, but it's her choice. As it should be her choice to know about it. Think about it, Elijah."

With those words, she left him standing. She was an interesting woman, a good leader. Her speech made him think, but he couldn't decide just know. He just wanted the best for her.

"Mila."

The vampire called her name as he found her at the hospital's exit. She had already finished her shift and changed into her usual Jeans and T-shirt, ready to go home. It was dark outside, the dim light of the lanterns beside her emphasized her stunning facial features.

Elijah walked towards her. As always, he was a bit taken aback by her beauty when she turned around. Where her sister's face was more of an exotic beauty, her's was softer, with classical features and soft, rosy glow on her cheeks, tempting him to touch her smooth skin.

She lifted a brow in question, implying that she wanted him to speak first.

"I'm truly sorry. I didn't mean it like that. I..."

Mila groaned in annoyance.

"What, Elijah? Why didn't you trust me enough?"

His mind raced, trying to find a explanation which was at least halfway the truth. He hesitated but began to answer.

"You told me that you hated that the other residents were spreading rumor about us. So I didn't want it to look like I'm preferring you above the other's. It's stupid, I know. I thought I'd bring something that stresses my means to apologize."

He handed her a parcel, wrapped in a thin, silky paper. She looked at it suspiciously but took it from his hands before unwrapping it.

Her lips parted in shock when she saw what was in there. She covered her mouth with her hand as she eyed the cover of the old book. Gray's Anatomy. The precious book she had lost when she was attacked. But this was a first edition. She carefully opened it and she read the personal signature on the first page.

For my friend E. Mikaelson.

\- H. Gray

This was unbelievingly valuable. There would be dozens of people that would give a huge amount of money to get their hands on this book.

"I got that from my great-grandfather. I was named after him. Figured that it would get quite more attention in your hands."

Even though the first part was a smooth lie, he couldn't hold back a smile as he saw her joy. He had gotten her backpack out of the canal after the incident and saw the destroyed version of the book in it and knew that this had been precious for her.

"I...I can't accept that, Elijah. This is too much."

"No, don't think that I want to buy your forgiveness. I just want to say thank you for all you've done for me since we met. You brought me to think about so much things."

Mila stared in his eyes for long, before she stepped closer to him to hug him tightly. Elijah was surprised by her showing of emotion, but wrapped his strong arms around her small back. He closed his eyes in inhaled her sweet scent. When they parted, Mila still stood on her toes, balancing herself with her hands on his shoulders. She looked into his chocolate depths longing, foolishly waiting for him to kiss her.

His gaze shifted to her full pink lips that were pure temptation for him. He fought with himself, fought with his own desire. Elijah's head lowered and Mila's eyes closed as her lips parted for him to capture her mouth. But instead, he just pressed a long kiss to her cheek.

"Goodnight, Mila."

Before she could say anything, he disappeared into the darkness. She stood there completely lost, feeling more lonely and embarrassed than ever. It was foolish to even think that he would like her more than a friend.

Mila looked down to the book he gifted her. If it wouldn't have been so valuable for her, she would've liked to throw it not the next dust bin. But the poor book wasn't to blame. It was all on herself.

"Mila? Mila, is that you?"

A voice that was all to common for the surgical resident sounded from behind her. She turned to check if it was truly him.

"I finally found you!"

He stormed towards her with a huge grin on his face. Mila wanted to return the smile, but she couldn't. She was simply too exhausted.

"Hello, Dan."

Her past had caught up to her.


	7. Chapter 7

"What are you doing here?"

Mila asked confused. Never would she have thought that someone would find her here...especially Dan. She broke his heart and left him without looking back. But he fought for her. It was kind of cute.

"I just applied for a job here...I'll start working tomorrow...I was just leaving and then you stood there. Oh my god you have no idea how desperate I was, I was on the edge of giving up, because this city is so big. And then you just work at the place where I just applied. That must be fate."

The young doctor rolled her eyes slightly, he always started to babble when he was nervous. It annoyed the hell out of her.

"Look, Dan..."

She was interrupted by his lips pressing to hers. Her eyes were wide out of surprise and she gently tried to push him away and at the same time not hurt his feelings to much. But he didn't seem to notice and continued.

Mila thought only of Elijah. That moment some minutes ago had shaken her from the inside. The tension between them was like electricity running through her whole body. Sometimes when they touched accidentally, she felt those famous sparks in the area where her skin touched his.

She didn't feel that with Dan. Of course she felt sympathy towards him, that kind of safe feeling of her old life and some nice memories, but there was no...passion.

But then she remembered that Elijah didn't seem to feel the same as Mila did. He had the chance to kiss her and he didn't. Today, he didn't trust her with the surgery, although she could understand his motives. Mila knew that Dan was a safe option. He was a proper guy and could be cute from time to time.

When Elijah left her standing in the cold darkness, she felt even more lonely. For some time he had made this feeling vanish, but today it was back. Dan could end this. She needed that right now, so she slowly started to kiss him back, although she didn't really feel anything.

Dan's smile was even wider when he draw back. Like a puppy that got his favorite toy back. Mila's hands were on his chest and she frowned when she felt the hard outline of flask in his pocket. He usually didn't drink a sip of alcohol. Whenever she had drunken a beer too much he was beyond mad, as he hated drunk people. She tried the put the thought far away, maybe it was just an exception.

"Mila...I know it's pretty straight forward, but can I maybe stay at your place? I live in a shabby motel for a week now and I can't afford anything else here...so I thought it would be ok. Like old times, you know."

Mila thought about it for a while, but out of pity, she just nodded. It went quite too fast for her liking, put it had always been like that with him. If she hadn't resented him nearly dozen times, they would've been married by now. Which Mila never had wanted, as she always somehow had the thought that he wasn't the right one. Never would she have allowed her herself to speak about that to anyone, not even her parents, but she always asked herself if that was everything. Was that love? Again she thought of Elijah, but she put it aside as well. That would never work out.

She took a deep breath and lightly squeezed his hand and went back to her apartment.

The next day, Mila was pretty excited to go to work. She went to bed early, knowing that she had to be perfectly fit for the long transplantation surgery. Dan had stayed up long, his shift would begin in the afternoon, which Mila was pretty happy about. She didn't want to take their renewed relationship to the hospital and Dan sometimes had the habit of blurting all the details of his private life out to his colleagues. He also reeked of alcohol last night when he came to bed. It definitely was better to spend the day apart.

After reaching the ward dressed in her light blue scrubs, she talked to Dr. Blake, Laura for her now, in preparation of the surgery. Elijah would do the surgery of the baby girl with Mila as assistant, while Laura would assist in the boy's transplantation. Over the time the women had taken a liking into each other and were on their way to become friends. It felt natural with her, like Laura had this same out-of-place-vibe as Mila had. None of the other residents liked the woman, too as she sometimes was a bit strict and utterly proud of her job as chief resident.

They laughed over something the nurses had told Laura that happened in the night shift when Elijah joined them.

"Good morning, Dr. Blake. Dr. Labonair."

He looked at her and awkwardness built up. Mila lowered her gaze quickly, trying to avoid his questioning glance. His mouth tightened into thin line and he sighed.

"Is everything prepared?"

Elijah looked pale today. His night was short due to some vampires misbehaving and of course he saw this guy entering Mila's apartment with her. They had held hands and Elijah remembered his pathetic face from some files. It was her ex boyfriend Dan. He didn't know why it bothered him so much. Yesterday he had screwed up, he should've given in to his desire. But he couldn't, he wanted to protect her, but he himself meant the greatest danger for her.

It was obvious today. After all this turmoil of last nights events, he simply forgot to feet. The smell of Mila's blood felt like a drug he was addicted to. It seduced him, tempted him to take what he wanted. Her beautiful, innocent eyes didn't make it any better.

"Yes, it is, Dr. Mikaelson. We are ready to start."

Her voice caressed his senses like warm honey. He struggled hard to get himself in line again. He cleared his throat and nodded.

"I'll see you in the OR."

He answered shortly and turned quickly, but not quick enough to not notice the warning glare Laura shot him. She exactly knew what was going on.

"Scalpel."

Elijah ordered the OR nurse and she instantly obeyed. He took a deep breath in and froze for a second, knowing that this was a mistake. The vampire shouldn't have come at all today. He was unstable and Mila's presence was too much. Not only that his thirst was nearly overwhelming, the dark spirit inside him was more present than ever today and urged him to take her.

He shook his head in order to concentrate. There was a little baby in front of him that needed his help. Distraction wasn't an option.

His experienced hand cut through the tender flesh and revealed the damaged heart shortly after. It was strange, how every nerve in his body was on fire in the OR. His hands weren't shaking anymore and he was suddenly calm.

"How was your evening, Dr. Labonair?"

The Original tried some small talk to ease the tension, but when she hesitated, he knew this was another mistake. He already knew what happened last evening. But why was he mad? It was her good right to take her boyfriend back, when he himself was foolish enough to resent her.

"My boyfriend came here...we're back together."

Their eyes met as Elijah spared her a short glance. Mila tried not to flinch, as she saw pain visible in his eyes. Light mumbling from the other doctors and nurses erupted around them. New prey for rumor, awesome.

"Congratulations."

Elijah whispered while he extracted the little heart. It was a lie so obvious, Mila was on the edge of laughing. Guilt rose inside her. But there wasn't anything to be guilty about. It wasn't her fault and she was her own free person, she could decide whatever she wanted. Even though she knew that this wasn't what she really wanted. It went so quick...she didn't feel comfortable with Dan in her flat.

Applying the donator's heart inside the little body took hours and no one spoke a word. It was just so awkward.But Mila also noticed that Elijah's breathing was kind of heavy, sweat covered his forehead, which she had never seen before on him. He seemed to struggle, which made her suspicious. Something was off about him today. When he was finished, he inserted the small paddles to help the heart start beating.

"Clear."

His voice was concentrated, hoping that everything would work out fine. But the heart didn't start beating. Mila tensed, her eyes wide. This couldn't be it. She was just so small.

It took another two shocks still the heart beat increased and everyone in the room let out a relieved breath.

"Good, we're closing her up. Dr. Labonair do you want to do that?"

Mila nodded quickly, her smile hid behind the mask. But just as her hands hovered over the wound, the heart fell into erratic beats before it stopped again.

Elijah spun around and quickly pushed her hands away. Both of them looked down at the heart with wide eyes. The older surgeon grabbed the paddles and started to give the heart another shock, of course knowing that he risked damaging it, but he had no choice. He started the reanimation measures and massaged the heart in between the shocks but with no result. After 10 minutes he stepped back from the table.

"Time of death... 13.40."

He didn't spare anyone another glance before he turned back around and ripped his OR gear off in anger. Elijah was on the edge of loosing control. Without looking back, he stormed off.

Mila stood frozen in spot and stared at the baby's lifeless body. It died. After all what they'd done. It had been senseless. Tears saw in her eyes but she blinked them away. She lifted her gaze and saw the door that was still swinging after Elijah's quick exit.

He needed her now. She had to give him comfort.

The young doctor got rid of her mask and gloves, too and ran after her boss. She asked some nurses if they had seen him and they motioned for the entrance for the basement. What would he do here? There was just the morgue and the hospitals stock of blood bags. She knitted her brows but continued to walk down there.

Her hands pushed nearly every door opened until she found him. The room was all white, the light was dim from the old lamps, freezers with blood bags in them where located near the walls. Total cliche, but scary as well.

Elijah's back faced her. He hovered over a freezer, his muscular arms steadied him as leaned on the edges of the device.

"Elijah?"

She carefully stepped closer to him, lightly placing a hand on his shoulder. His back muscles tensed when she touched him, but he still didn't speak.

"Are you alright?"

Mila's voice was barely a whisper. She shivered, he scared the hell out of her. That the real shock was only one second away from her was what she didn't know at that moment.

Elijah gave it up. His head slowly turned in her direction. His usually brown eyes were of a deep dark red, the veins around them pulsating in a blackish color. Blood stained his lips and he let the empty blood bag fall to his side.

She stared at him with wide eyes, her gaze shifting to the blood bag on the floor until realization hit her. A scream was stuck in her throat and she took a step back, barely able to breathe. Just as she was about to turn and run, he grabbed her and pressed her to wall. His monstrous eyes bore into hers before he lowered his head. He breathed heavily as he neared her exposed neck. His lips parted to reveal long fangs.

Mila couldn't make a sound or fight back to his strong grip, she was just too afraid. But just as his long teeth scraped against her soft, sensitive skin, he stopped. His head went up again as his face grew back to normal. What should he do? He couldn't let her go...but he resisted the urge to suck her dry. He let her live.

As he didn't know what to say, he wanted to show her. His hand lifted to her cheek. She looked at him in fear but held still when he touched her face. Suddenly scenes of life, no, memories, flooded her mind. She saw everything. Begging from him as young man, dressed in really, really old clothing. His hair was long and a sword clung to his belt as he placed with other people, his family. They seemed happy. A second later, they laid on the floor, all covered in blood. The story of the creation of the first vampires unfolded in front of her.

It went on to centuries of slaughter, pain and love. But she noticed at the edge of her mind, that she could just assume that it was filled with those emotions. She didn't feel them and neither did he. It was strange, but she was distracted by everything she saw. A child...his siblings...a woman that seemed so unbelievingly resembling. After they had disappeared, Mila could feel emotion again. Years of joy, but still filled with cruelty. The memories slowed down with time. The last she saw was her, how she had bumped into him. She felt his confusion, then how he did his research. How he stood in front of her burnt home. Tears streamed over her face when she saw it. It overwhelmed her. And then a family tree. With the name Labonair above it. The last line was split up in two. Andrea and Mila stood written in an elegant handwriting.

Her vision became clear again and she looked directly into Elijah's torn eyes. He felt angry, sad and pitiful at the same time. This would be too much for her to take. Elijah slowly released her off his tight grip and they just stood there without saying anything.

Mila's head ached so badly and the tears wouldn't stop. What she had seen there...vampires were real and he was one of them. He nearly killed her. But these last memories...what was that about her? Was she also one of those monsters?

She shook her head and stepped away from him, until she could turn and run away. Elijah let her go, he knew that she wouldn't tell anyone. She just needed a moment for herself until he could explain everything to her. But the toughest topic would be of telling her that she was a werewolf.

Elijah took a moment to clean the room of the little mess they made and went up the stairs. He heard yelling from the ER when he went through the doors. But what he saw there destroyed everything. There were dozens of injured people and Mila hovered over one of them, pressuring down on his chest. She must've been called right after she went up from the basement.

"Time of death, 14.02."

A nurse standing next to her called out. Suddenly, Mila's head turned around and looked directly at him with a desperate expression. Everything seemed to go on in slow motion from now on. Elijah rushed to her side, but before he could reach her, a pain burst spread from her heart to her whole body and she sunk down. When she looked up again, her eyes gleamed in a golden shade.


	8. Chapter 8

Elijah caught Mila before she could fall onto the floor. No one else really paid attention to her state as the ER was terribly busy and it was some kind of usual to see residents break down when they loose a patient.

But Mila didn't mentally break down. She just triggered the curse that would change her whole life. Definitely not to the better, thinking of how the transition at the night of the full moon would hurt.

The vampire lifted her off the floor and carried her to his office where they could freely speak. Sighing he placed her on the comfortable sofa. Elijah turned around and covered his face with his hand and rubbed his temples to ease the growing headache. He never wanted it to happen that way. She just got to know about the existence of the supernatural and just a moment after that, she triggered her curse. This was too much for the girl.

"What...what happened?"

Her voice was shaking in fear. The wave of pain that builded inside her body after she lost the patient had disappeared. It felt like her blood boiled, it was heavily relieving to be in the cold, climatized air of his office.

After his revelation she had been so confused and afraid. She had want to simply get out of the basement, away from him. A vampire...how could it be that such creatures were real? But after she saw what he showed her through a weird mind connection, she was convinced.

The first picture...how he dressed...Hell, how old was he?

"Mila, I...I can explain, just..."

She grew annoyed of his hesitation, her temper rising. Something had changed in her. She usually was a calm, even shy person.

"What am I?"

Mila shot the question out. After what she felt and Elijah's reaction to it, he knew what had happened, she was sure that it was connected to the unbelievable things he had shown her.

The Original sighed. This girl had such a sharp mind. She figured this out so fast, he could barely follow her and think of a light way to explain. But there was none. She needed bare facts and he would giver her that at first.

"You're a werewolf, Mila."

Her eyes grew wide and her lips parted in shock. It had been enough that her friend...or close-to-lover-boss or whatever he was...was a vampire. But she could walk away from that or not, whatever she decided. But this concerned herself. She didn't just changed, she was something that she never had imagined to even exist for her whole life. It explain quite some things, for example the secrets about her adoption and her feeling of never really belonging anywhere. This was something with what she was confronted right now, she could decide anything. It was her fate, her curse, her burden. Whatever it was, she had to learn about that as soon as possible.

"What...what does that mean? Will I turn into a hairy beast?"

Elijah couldn't help but chuckle. The mental picture actually was hilarious.

"Hey! This isn't funny!"

Mila was out of her mind and he had the audacity to smile. She stood up and paced around the room, noticing that her scrubs were still spilled with blood from the patient.

"Kind of. Come, let me show you something."

Elijah outstretched his hand for her to take. The newbie werewolf hesitated and looked down to his palm, but carefully took it. Of course she was freaking out about her being a beast. But that Elijah was a bloodsucking creature that had nearly attacked her, didn't help. In contrary, deep down she knew that she could trust him.

He pulled her in front of the mirror that hung on the wall in the edge of the room. Placing himself behind her, he lightly placed his hands on her hips to position her in front of him. Their gazes met in the mirror. Mila looked like a mess, but her face was still the same.

"Concentrate on that new part of yourself, Mila."

His mouth was close to her ear, his voice soothing. It drove Mila nearly mad, adding to his large hands on her hips, his thumb drawing circles on a short part of exposed skin due to her scrubs having slipped upwards. Mila didn't think that he even noticed that he was doing something extremely intimate. It felt natural.

When Mila could focus again, she closed her eyes and searched her mind for that 'new part'. She felt it before right after the patient was declared dead.

At first, she couldn't feel it, but then, we she tried harder, she felt it. Like a new consciousness inside her own mind. Something wild, free, temperamental. It felt like it had always been there, but now it was there to fully live, to show devotion to its own existence. Never had she guessed that it would feel good.

She opened her eyes again and she was surprised to see them shimmering in a beautiful golden tone. In addition to that, the lights around them started to flicker, before turning fully off.

Elijah frowned and looked around confused. He felt it. The presence of something...magic.

"Elijah? What's wrong?"

Her eyes suddenly turned back to normal and the light in the room shone bright again. When they looked out of the window, they saw a unusually quick rising thunderstorm. Shortly after, heavy rain came down to the ground.

"No, this can't be..."

He stepped back and looked at her in both confusion and realization. How could she have magic inside her? She was a werewolf, royalty to be precise, but never had he seen something that was both witch and werewolf.

"Mila, stop the thunderstorm."

This was his way of testing his theory. If she could stop it, he was right. I honestly hoped that he wasn't.

"What? How should I stop a freakin'..."

Elijah grabbed her wrist in order for her to focus, but he was thrown back by a strong force, sending him into the wall. She covered her hand with her mouth in shock. How could she do that? She didn't even touch him.

Then, she just needed to try. She turned to face the window and closed her eyes, sending out to that presence inside her.

Stop the thunderstorm...

She whispered in her mind repeatedly. Elijah watched her in awe, to amazed to stand up, afraid that he would miss something. She looked like a goddess the way she stood there, deeply concentrating.

When Mila opened her eyes again, the sky above was of a clear light blue. The dark clouds had disappeared and the sun shone on the city like it did before. A chill ran down her spine.

"That...that was me? The thunderstorm...how could I do that?"

Elijah jumped back to his feet in a swift motion and slowly approached her. Now both of them were utterly confused. He still did not really understand what that meant. Further information and investigation from his side, he surely had enough contacts he could trust, was needed.

"You seem to have magic inside you, Mila. That's...not usual. Werewolves and witches are separate species, there never had been something like that before..."

Mila suddenly grew tired. She sat back down onto the soft cushioned sofa, trying to concentrate on what he was saying.

"That means I'm both? Wow...I can't just be a beast, I also have to be some kind of wizard...or witch, whatever you call that. The unusual in the unusual...great."

Sarcasm and desperation filled her voice and she looked away. Again Elijah knelt in front of her and grabbed her chin, forcing her to look at him.

"Listen to me, you're special. I have to find out more about it, but I will help you everything. But first, I want to fill you in with all the details. Is that alright?"

Mila nodded weakly. It was like all the power was drained off her and she wanted nothing more than to sleep. But she needed to hear everything now. She couldn't sleep soundly if there were still questions.

Elijah took a seat next to her, it hurt that she looked so helpless and utterly tired. He never wanted that for her and now she was here, overwhelmed by everything. It wouldn't be better with the things he would tell her now.

He started his speech with the transformation into a werewolf at the night of the full moon. Mila flinched when he mentioned that it would break every bone in her body, but she tried to not show fear. Elijah then continued to the traits of witches and after that to the hardest topic...her family. He explained that the Labonairs were the royalty of the Crescent pack. She grabbed the cushion of the sofa hard, she couldn't even act shocked anymore.

"I...I have a sister?"

The Original nodded, remembering Hayley. He saw the scenes of their love in front of him, but he couldn't feel love anymore. Like this had been someone else, not him. Again this cold feeling of the compulsion had a iron grip around his heart, making him think that he was better off without them.

"A twin sister to be precise. Her name is Hayley. She's the mother of my niece."

Mila broke into hysteric laughter. She couldn't stop it. Maybe she had PTSD, it sounded like that, which made her laugh even more. Elijah just lifted an eyebrow.

"I'm an aunt! For real! And I always thought I'm an only child..."

The laughter turned into sobs and tears started streaming down her face. Finally a normal reaction. Elijah carefully wrapped an arm around her and she leaned her head on his shoulder and just enjoyed his comfort as her tears sunk into the fabric of his dark blue scrubs.

"You don't think my parent's death was an accident, don't you?"

He lightly rubbed her arm and placed a kiss on her hair.

"No, I don't. Labonairs are hunted. The reason is quite a long story and results to why I'm here. I'll explain some time later. You should sleep now, Mila."

She shook her head and the sobs shook her small body again. This was another pain. Not physical, but mental. Guilt. Deep, raging guilt she would carry on forever.

"It's all my fault...they didn't came for them, they came for me..."

Elijah frowned and grabbed her arms, positioning her back in front of him. He needed to make this thought vanish from her mind, it wasn't even true, but she had to believe that herself, or she would break in cause of that guilt. The vampire knew the feeling. Now he could barely remember it and it was better. He could bear his existence more easily.

"No, Mila, don't. It's not your fault. You didn't know. I'll find whoever did this, I promise."

She weakly tried to rip away from him, but he simply pulled her back to his chest. Being lonely was the last thing she needed now.

"Right, I didn't know! For my whole life I felt out of place, not belonging to anything! I didn't know what I was, Elijah. That's torture, believe me."

He sighed and stroked the tears from her cheek. Somehow he was relieved that she wasn't blaming him for not telling her. She seemed to understand.

The Original stood up and motioned for her to lie down. He lightly smiled when she did and covered her with the blanked that had been on the armrest. She pulled her knees to her chest and wrapped the soft silky fabric tightly around him, sparing Elijah one last troubled glance before closing her eyes.

When Mila woke up again, it was early in the morning, around 4 am. She looked around confused, not knowing where she was at first. Had all of this been a dream? Were werewolves, vampires and witches still a creation of fairytales?

Her eyes fell on Elijah's sleeping figure and she suddenly knew that it all had been real. She didn't really know how to feel about all of this. Of course she was scared out of hell, but it was good to know that she hadn't been crazy for her whole life. She really was different.

The young doctor smiled when she examined Elijah. He was there for her, as he promised when they met in the bar, after he played the piano with such great expertise. Before all of that madness had begun. His head rested against the armrest while his arm stretched out on the cushion of the sofa, his hand firmly on her thigh.

This man was extraordinary. An oddly talented surgeon and a vampire...for her, he was a hero. Even though he surely saw that quite differently. When she got the inside into his mind, she saw what he had done. Mayhem, slaughter, murdering...but it was all in the part were the emotions were so dull. Of course she had seen him killing people in the 'emotion filled' memories, too, but then he again, he decided to be a doctor and help people, although he was made to kill humans by sucking them dry of blood. He had shown nothing but kindness for Mila.

After he told her what had triggered the curse, she understood why he had forbidden her to do surgeries on her own. After all, it was to protect her, because he was afraid that someone could die when she performing surgery. He seemed to care for the young werewolf deeply.

Carefully, Mila stood up, trying not wake him. She took the blanket off herself and placed it on him, although having the feeling that vampires didn't need blankets to stay warm, she wanted to give a little part of the comfort he gave her back to him.

After taking one last glance of him, she went out of the room and out of the hospital, walking back home quickly. She didn't bother to change out of her scrubs, as she just wanted to get home and take a soothing shower. Hot water sometimes was the solution to a bunch of things.

She opened her front door quietly, trying not to wake Dan. But he wasn't asleep. He staggered towards her, a bottle of beer in his hand, looking even more disheveled than Mila. Nervously, she took a step back out of instinct. Her new, heightened senses smelled alcohol. A lot of alcohol. He was drunk.

"Where you with HIM?"

Dan yelled the last word and came even closer to his girlfriend. His breath, reeking even more of alcohol touched her sensitive smelling sense and she was on the edge of throwing up.

"No, I slept at the hospital after my shift, it was quite busy. By the way, his name is Elijah and he's my friend."

She pushed him away from her as he tried to touch her, careful not to hurt him. There was a lot of learning to do, especially when it comes to controlling her newfound power.

"Friend?!"

He laughed loudly and nearly stumbled over his feet.

"You're such a liar, Mila! Tell me, have you f*ed today?"

Mila knitted her brows, disgusted by his state. What had happened to him? When did he change that much? He always had had his flaws, but he never was a drinker or disrespectful or anything.

"Dan, you need to go to bed. You're drunk."

She grabbed his arms and lead him to the bedroom where he collapsed onto the small bed. He tried to pull her with her, but she got out of his grip quick enough. He mumbled some insults and Mila tried hard to ignore him. It hurt so much, seeing him like that. Mila felt guilty for that, too. After all it was her that had broken his heart all of a sudden. Without a warning, she left him. She couldn't do that again. He needed her help. But not tonight.

Confused, sad, nervous and crazily curious, she stretched out on the sofa in her living room after she had a hot shower. She couldn't be near Dan right now, she needed time alone with her thoughts.


	9. Chapter 9

Mila didn't find enough sleep after she arrived home. The issue with Dan and this whole life changing situation stole every peace she could've found. But surprisingly what kept Mila really awake were her complicated feelings for Elijah. If they were feelings at all...maybe it was just what he seemed to promise. Comfort, a teacher, someone that understood her situation. No one else could be that for her.

She peeled herself from the couch before Dan awoke, as she wasn't sure how to approach him. Did he even remember last night? It hurt her seeing him like this and she still felt guilty. But that couldn't be her concern right now. For once she needed to care for herself, to figure out who the 'new' Mila was.

After getting ready, she rushed to the hospital even though her shift was only in the evening. She needed to keep herself busy and also hoped that Elijah would be there so she could ask him more questions.

The young werewolf was lucky, Elijah stood on the station desk as always, doing paperwork. Mila figured that he didn't really like to sit extracted from the hospital's life in his office, so he took most of the work outside, so he was a part of the ward and its busyness.

"Good morning."

She chirped, trying to be cheery, but feeling miserably concerning the deep blue circles under her eyes and her pale skin. Elijah turned around and looked at her surprised. It was quickly replaced with worry, as he saw how exhausted she seemed.

"You should go back home and sleep Mila. Your shift is in the evening."

Mila bit her lip and looked away. She was sure that he could see right through her so she wouldn't even try to lie. It was a good thing that he had already back to his papers.

"I can't."

Startled, Elijah's gaze turned back to her. She was right, he could see right through her. Something else had happened last night, not concerning her broken curse.

"What happened?"

He whispered so no one but her could hear. Mila shook her head defeated and pushed some stray strands of hair behind her ears. The motion captivated his eyes, as he deeply wished to touch the soft skin of her face.

"It's alright, Elijah, nothing you can help me with. To be honest I hoped to catch you here to continue my questionnaire."

Elijah looked at her warily before dropping the topic. Maybe she would tell him later if he didn't press the matter further. He was sure that this had something to do with this useless lad she dated. He sighed and handed her a clipboard.

"Come, you'll assist me in my round. I've got an interesting case for you. You can ask me whatever you want in between. Later one we can continue in my office if you help me with some paperwork."

She chuckled, but nodded and followed him on his way.

"That sounds like blackmail, Dr. Mikaelson. You're using me."

Mila enjoyed that they hadn't lost their ease. In between the serious stuff, they still could be joking around.

"It's my job to push residents around and use them for the dirty work. I'm chief after all, Dr. Labonair."

His trademark, concentrate pokerface was on his face, but Mila knew that he was amused. He even winked at her shortly, which she saw from the corner of her eye as they entered a patient's room.

"How old are you?"

She blurted out after they left the room again. Her cheeks flushed, she spoke before she thought. How embarrassing and rude.

"Must be a thousand and some years now. I'm an Original, one of the first vampires to ever exist."

Mila's eyes widened and she instinctively watched him from head to toe. Hell, he held himself quite well for that age!

"Really?"

Not really intelligent thing to say, but she needed a second to take facts like that in. He honestly was better in playing the revelation game. Mila carried all of her emotions on her face and carried her heart on her tongue. That should stop.

"Yes. Are you familiar with nerve transplantation techniques, Dr. Labonair?"

The change of topic made her head cloudy, but she was quick to follow him again. She couldn't stop doing her job.

"Yes, I am. Why?"

A smile tugged on Elijah's lips. Her curiosity was cute, he liked that she was so deeply devoted to her job. He was happy that he could teach her more now.

"In the morning an accident came in. Sudden heart attack while working with a chainsaw. Both hands are seriously injured. Dr. Blake will do one hand, you the other, while I fix his heart. It's quite the marathon, do you want to do it?"

Mila smiled widely and her eyes sparked brightly in excitement. Did he really offer her to do a nerve transplantation on her own?

"Yes, of course! ...I want to hug you so badly right now."

She babbled, nearly jumping through the hallway in joy. Mila was so grateful for this opportunity. This day obviously got better by the second.

"You can do that after everything went fine."

Elijah couldn't help but chuckle. It was good to see her somehow happy again. He never got to know someone that acted so natural in his presence. Hugging usually wasn't a trait of the people he kept company.

"How old is your...I mean...she's kind of our...niece?"

The picture of Hope flew to his mind and again he couldn't really grasp it. A child, related by blood to him, but nothing more. Mila noticed his cold expression. It was strange, she expected that he was a man that liked children and got attached to them.

"She's 12 now. The last time I saw her she was 7."

She sadly smiled, looking down to the floor. All that time she had another family, she wished so badly that they could've met her sister and her niece early. Mila was a family person, but now she had the lingering feeling that it was too late to be a family.

"Wow...I missed so much of her growing up. I always imagined how it would be to have siblings, be an aunt and all those time it was right in front of my nose."

Elijah looked at her with an unreadable expression and when no one looked at them, he grabbed her hand and squeezed it lightly before releasing it. He regretted that he destroyed everything personal belonging to his family five years ago. If he hadn't, he at least could've shown her a photo.

"Do you like children?"

He asked as they continued on their way to his office. When they arrived, they took a seat next to each other on the sofa and started working on some papers.

"Yes, I do. I think I would be a good pediatric surgeon, it's just all those sad cases...wait...can vampires..."

The doctor stopped mid sentence, she again started the words before she could think them over. What was going on with her today?

Elijah read the question out of her eyes and smiled amused.

"No, vampires can't procreate. My brother Niklaus is a hybrid, half vampire, half werewolf. His werewolf side made it possible."

Mila's cheeks flushed a deep red. The information that Elijah couldn't father children was way too private, but she was relieved that he acted so calm about her awkward behavior. She shook her head and changed the topic quickly.

"Yesterday you said I'm part witch...how will I able to control that? It felt natural to stop the storm, but I have no clue how to turn all this energy into something useful."

Nodding, he pulled something out of his pocket. It was a small, silver chained bracelet and a ripped off page, which looked really old due to its yellowed color.

"Right, speaking of that...You aren't able to control it on your own. I'm working on finding someone who can help you with that. Until that, I got this for you. Mila, you're radiating off pure power since you triggered your curse. I don't want to risk that anyone can find you. This bracelet will cover off your energy, but will also keep you from doing magic yourself."

He gently grabbed her hand and wrapped the bracelet around her wrist. Again this tingling sensation wherever he touched her was visible, but Mila also felt a change in that presence inside her. It felt somehow caged now.

"This a page from my mother's grimoire. She was a really powerful witch, but her spell book has some parts which are about learning control. I had your apartment cloaked from locator spells after I found out about you, so you can practice in there freely. Just be sure that your boyfriend doesn't walk in on you."

Mila flinched when he mentioned Dan. Deep in thought she twisted and turned the little silver chain. So much to learn and she hasn't really started yet.

Some hours later, Mila and Elijah were getting clean for the surgery. The younger doctor was pretty excited but managed to stay calm. Just the little smile on her lips showed how positively nervous she was.

Laura joined them in the washing room and the women greeted each other with a smile.

"I heard you broke your curse yesterday, Mila."

The doctor stated without looking up. Mila's head whipped around in shock before she threw Elijah, not knowing what to say, but he simply shrugged. Why was he so calm about it? She thought it was meant to be a secret.

"How...How do you know?"

She asked under her breath. Her eyes were wide in confusion and Elijah chuckled to which Mila threw him a death stare.

"Darling, I'm a werewolf myself."

Laura smiled and her eyes flashed golden for a second. Mila surprised herself with being relieved. It felt comforting not to be the only werewolf here. Even though Elijah helped her so much, it wasn't the same as he was vampire. He had already told her that vampires and werewolves were competing species.

"Who is like us here, too?"

This whole world was a craze. Laura acted so natural with it, she must've triggered her curse a long time before.

"Just my fiancee, Ben. He works in the morgue."

Mila nodded, she knew him. He was a nice guy, Laura and him were so sweet together. She looked down to the massive engagement ring the older werewolf just had token off in preparation.

"Look, Mila, my pack always helps werewolves that are new to their gift. The full moon is in a few days and I want to invite you to join us in shifting. It's half as bad when you're in company of other wolves."

Anxiousness had Mila tight in its grip when she thought about what was in front of her. Elijah told her that shifting into a wolf would break every bone in her body and Mila knew every one of the many by its latin name. This would hurt immensely. But she couldn't run away from this and Laura was right, with people there that had experience with this, it would be easier.

"Thank you, Laura."

She smiled nodding and explained Mila the way to the place were it would happen. Laura must be a quite high ranked wolf if she could invite a wolf not belonging to the pack for this.

"I'm coming with you."

Elijah stated from behind them as he but on gloves. Laura shot him a glare and Mila started to understand this competing thing. Must be very old history.

"You're a vampire, an Original. You're not allowed."

The older wolf spat the word vampire. Even though she knew that Elijah wasn't a threat for her or her pack didn't mean that she would let him into her inner circle.

"I don't care, queen. Mila is under my protection and I won't let her go alone into this."

Mila looked in between them in a haste. Wow, one of the first vampires and a werewolf queen, she picked her friends wisely. She heard Laura sigh, giving up, it seemed like she understood. Mila gave her a thankful nod, she was relieved that also Elijah would be by her side.

With raised arms, the three of them went into the OR and stood at their positions and started working. Laura was the first to speak again.

"I also invite you two to my wedding. It's in two weeks, I'll hand you an invitation."

Elijah and Mila exchanged a glance and again the mumbling around her started again. She rolled her eyes and replied.

"We'll be very happy to come."

Some days later, the young werewolf sat in a car which Elijah drove. She played with her fingers nervously.

"You'll be alright, Mila, I promise. You're not alone."

Elijah reached over and squeezed her hand in comfort. She sighed and calmed a bit. It was interesting what effects his touch had on her. Mila felt so much when their skins touched, seeming to intensify with every day. But nothing really happened between them. They spent so much time in the hospital together and sometimes even after their shift and they had those moments again and again, but something always interrupted them. Even if just was the guilt Mila felt when she thought of Dan.

"I know...I'm just afraid that I'll hurt someone. Laura filled me in with everything."

Mila had told her boyfriend that she staying at Laura's tonight. She was sure that he didn't quite believed it, but she didn't have another explanation in store. It was so hard to keep the truth from only one person, she was almost happy that her very little circle of friends were both insiders.

"The area is secured, Mila. No human will be there tonight."

She looked up to him, feeling lonely when he withdrew his hand from hers as they neared the property.

"What if I hurt you? Laura told me that a werewolf bite is lethal for vampires."

The Original smiled confidently.

"Yes, but I'm an Original. I'm a lot stronger and even if I got bit, it won't kill me."

When he endend his words, he stopped the car and rushed around the vehicle to politely open the door for her. Mila still had to get used to his vampire speed, but she smiled thankfully.

They were greeted by the wary and sometimes even hateful looks on a dozen of werewolves, Their eyes bore into Elijah who only but on a challenging, arrogant smile, while Mila was pretty intimidated. At the same time she couldn't look away from Elijah's confident posture. It impressed her and slightly turned her on. She shook her head in embarrassment. Fortunately, Laura stepped towards them and eased the tension.

"Come, we'll shift in a more private place."

She placed a hand on Mila's shoulder and lead her behind the huge mansion that was built on the property. Elijah followed them.

"Is that all yours?"

Laura smiled proudly and looked at the property. It looked really beautiful in the light of the setting sun.

"We're a pack, we share everything. But as Ben and I are the leaders, yes, it's kinda ours."

Some minutes later, the first stars were visible in the sky and the Moon slowly began to rise. Mila started to shift uncomfortably. Elijah looked at the young werewolf with worry, but she just shook her head, implying that she was ok.

"What is he doing here?"

Ben, a tall, dark skinned and black haired man stormed out of the houses, positioning protectively in front of his fiancee.

"Good evening to you, too, Dr. Williams."

Instinctively, Elijah had pushed Mila behind him without anyone noticing so she was looking at his broad back which was covered in an heavily expensive coat.

"Get out of here before we rip you apart."

Laura tried to get in between the men, but Ben just pushed her back behind him.

"Ben, would you please..."

"No, Laura, vampires aren't welcome on this property, especially not an Original. You know what they did to other packs. When his brother slaughtered werewolves to create hybrids, my sister was one of his victims, you know that! You either go, or I'll make you."

Elijah lifted his chin and looked the werewolves in the eyes with an amused look, his hands buried in the pockets of his jeans.

"Are you challenging me?"

That drove Ben over the edge. He was about to attack Elijah, when Laura pushed him out of the way with a force that threw him to the ground.

"Both of you, stop it! He's here to help Mila, who just triggered her curse and didn't know of her fate so far. So leave him be. And you, should stop provoking him with that smug grin of yours, I won't stop him from attacking you again."

The men rolled their eyes in unison and Ben stood up again and cleaned the dust off his trousers.

"We should undress now. The transformation will rip the clothing apart. Elijah, would you please go inside?"

Laura explained to Mila and motioned for Elijah to leave them, which the younger werewolf was thankful for. Her and Elijah definitely weren't on the comfortable with undressing in front of each other stage.

The Original spared her one last comforting glance before going inside. When he turned, Mila undressed to her underwear, which she kept on, not caring if they ripped.

And then, it began. The first wave of pain hit Mila hard and the air was knocked out of her lungs. Next to her, she heart bones breaking and she saw Ben and Laura on their knees. Some minutes passed and the pain in Mila's body grew, but the bones didn't break. It was worse. She felt like she was on her fire, like her blood boiled and her skin was peeled off. But she didn't shifted her form. Laura looked up already deep in transition and noticed that Mila still hasn't changed. This wasn't usual.

The younger wolf fell to her knees and panted, her screams getting louder.

"Elijah!"

Laura's voice was rough from the pain as she tried to get nearer to Mila, inspecting what could be wrong with her. When she looked up again, the Original knelt next to the girl. Both of them looked unto the brewing storm. Thunders and lightning were suddenly breaking the silence in between Mila's screams.

"Get her inside."

Elijah didn't hesitated a second, lifted her up and rushed inside. But he couldn't to anything to help her. She tossed, turned and screamed in his arms, her body not able to shift into its wolf form. He just held her, making sure that she didn't hurt herself. It went on like that the whole night, until the moon lowered and the sun finally rose. Her figure got calm again and she fell into a deep slumber.

There was something heavily wrong with her and Elijah needed to find a way to help her. He couldn't bear seeing her in this torment again.


	10. Chapter 10

"Elijah..."

Mila shot up from her sleep and looked around confused. The sun was already on the rise. What happened? Then she suddenly remembered all the pain and flinched. It was gone now, but thinking about it resulted in phantom pain.

Her eyes met Lauras and the older werewolf smiled sympathetically. She pitied Mila, barely she could imagine the pain the girl had been in. It was horrible to be trapped in your own body, without having a chance that the true nature inside her could break free and shift. Never had Laura seen something like that before.

"He's outside, calling someone. He'll be back in a tick."

She lightly squeezed Mila's hand. The young doctor looked horrible. Her lips were dry and bloody from biting onto them in pain, deep blue circles of exhaustion under her eyes.

"Laura...what...what's wrong with me?"

Mila's voice came out stifle and she coughed, her throat raspy to which Laura immediately handed her a glass of water.

"We don't know yet...Elijah's trying to figure something out, how we can help you. All I know is that your witchy side somehow suppresses the wolf in you and keeps you from shifting to which the wolf fights against, which results quite the chaos. I'm so sorry, Mila."

The young doctor shook her head, slowly calming down and reminding herself of manners. Laura had been so nice to her. She invited to her home and even accepted a vampire and now she stood by her. That was more than any other would do for her...except for Elijah.

"Thank you, Laura. I don't know what I would do without your help."

She laughed and shook her head.

"No, you should thank Elijah. He's doing all the work, being a good boyfriend."

Laura winked at her friend and grinned widely. This cat and mouse game between Mila and Elijah was terribly cute, but also kind of annoying.

"He's my friend. Like you are."

Mila blushed and looked away so her eyes weren't telling the truth. Of course she had a crush on Elijah, maybe even more, but she wasn't ready to admit it.

"Duh, Mila, I'm flattered, but it's like I would call Ben a 'friend'. If you think of me the same way you think of Elijah, I have to say sorry, but I'm taken."

Both women laughed in unison, amused of the thought. It was nice to have something uncomplicated with Laura, just a building friendship, people that deeply understood each other. They were the same kind of women. Resilient, strong, but sensitive at the same time.

"Honestly, Mila. You two should talk. It hurts watching you."

Mila lowered her gaze again, thinking of Dan. She couldn't break his heart again. But wasn't he breaking hers with his behavior? Mila wasn't happy with him, she knew that.

"I'm also taken, Laura."

Laura rolled her eyes, giving Mila a serious glare. That girl would run away from her own happiness if it was literally right in front of her.

"Seriously? We both know you don't love Dan. Be fair, Mila, let him go. It was over when you first left him."

The younger wolf nodded, being deep in thought. How should she deal with all this chaos? It was so much for one person to take. Love-drama was the last thing she needed.

"Vincent, long time no see."

Elijah spoke into his phone, grinning when he imagined the face that his old kind of companion heard the Original's voice through the speaker. Vincent had always been truthful towards him, even if Elijah had resented the disrespect he always showed, but still, he trusted the witch.

A long silence erupted and Vincent seemed to gather his thoughts and figure out what to say.

"Elijah..."

He said into the phone with a suspicious tone. The witches mind surely raced, trying to think of any reason why a certain vampire could call him after 5 years. When he saw him last, he and Marcel erased his memory of always forever. Secretly he had feared the consequences for long, but he hadn't heard of any cruelty coming from him. There were only to possible outcomes by the compulsion: even Elijah could leave behind the Red Door, because he always had killed for his family, or he would become even worse. Vincent always hoped for option one.

"You surely wonder why I call. Vincent, what if I tell you that I found another Labonair?"

The witched gasped and Elijah was now sure that he called the right person. His connection to the hallow would drive him into helping Elijah.

"I would ask you to which end of the world he or she would've went to hide from the hallows lackeys or people that want to get rid of it using Labonair blood."

Elijah looked around and saw some werewolves clean up the mess that the storm made by Mila's uncontrolled magic left behind.

"She's in New York."

Again Vincent let out a sound of surprise. In New York and still alive? That was more than a wonder. It was barely possible.

"How can she still be alive? Everyone who found out would go after her, because they all knew that your niece is the most protected child in the world. That girl, she's easy prey."

Elijah sighed, he already knew that. Probably some of the badest creatures this world had to offer were on her tracks. Good thing that he was an even worse beast himself.

"Let's say I'm particularly interested in her safety. Did I mention that she seems to have inherited the traits of a witch? I only saw and felt pure power like that once and that was with Hope. She broke her curse some days ago and her werewolf side and her magic came to surface. Last night, she was about to shift but her magic seemed to have kept her from shifting. She was in a miserable pain."

Now it was Vincent sighed, taking all those unbelievable things in. He thought he had seen every monstrosity possible, but this revelation really shocked him.

"A werewolf and a witch...of course that doesn't go well together. Man, you can only release her by turning her into a hybrid. It would cut her bound to nature, stopping her magic and making her able to shift at her own will. Sorry, I can't help."

The Original fell into silence, thinking about the possibility. He couldn't do that to her. She wouldn't want to be like him, an immortal, eternally forced to drink blood. There must be another way. He would do anything.

Before Elijah hung up, Vincent's voice sounded again.

"Just one more thing. If you really care about that girl, get her out of the city. You know where she would be safest. We would've more possibilities to protect her here."

He closed his eyes for a second, knowing what Vincent was implying. The place were Elijah suffered most. Where most of his emotionless memories took place.

"New Orleans."

An hour later Mila and Elijah left the pack's estate. Both of them were in silence, having thoughts on their own that quite differed from one another. While Elijah thought about a way how to keep her life as normal as possible, Mila tried to fight the growing tension between them. Being together with him was out of question right now.

They were just so different but also sometimes quite the same. Maybe it was what drew them together, the promise of ease to their problem. She was Elijah's light at the horizon and he was Mila's safe haven. It was hard to be apart, but it wasn't the right time.

"Could you please drive directly to the hospital?"

He sighed, he needed to talk to her about that issue. She wasn't safe in the hospital. But her work was what she loved most.

"Don't you want to go home?"

Elijah spared her a glance, searching for clues as to why she tried hard to not have to go to her home. If that boy hurt her, Elijah wouldn't able to keep himself from killing him. Mila was precious and everyone who violated that was his foe.

"Nothing is there for me, Elijah. Just a post-drunk boyfriend with a bad mood who's boiling of jealousy."

Mila shook her head and looked to her feet. She was so embarrassed. Usually she was a strong woman, never would she have accepted such behavior in a relationship as Dan was showing right now. But she felt like a slut, a relentless heartbreaker.

"What is he jealous of? You surely told him that you are with Laura tonight, which is the truth."

Of course Elijah knew the answer to this question. But he wanted to hear it. Hear her confirm that they had become more than friends.

"You. He thinks I was with you tonight."

She lifted her eyebrows to stress the meaning of her words. Elijah's hands clenched around the stirring wheel when he felt the air around them tighten. A fire burned between them whenever they were close and the little space his car offered wasn't helping for him to be any kind of restraint.

"Is he right to be jealous?"

Her intense eyes met his and Elijah was completely taken aback. He had force his eyes back to the road. Mila gulped and was sure that her glance had shown him the truth. She couldn't hide anything from him, so she wouldn't start lying.

"Yes."

Elijah took in what she had admitted and secretly was filled with joy. She felt the same way as he did. But it was just too complicated. He brought mayhem with him wherever he went and if someone found out how precious she was to him...

Thinking about distancing himself from her, he quickly threw the thought away. It was too late. She already was in the middle of it and making it even more complicated wasn't of any use. They needed to trust each other in their situation.

Back in the hospital they started the round and distracted themselves with the busy everyday life of the hospital. Mila smiled about the fact that the hospital had become the most peaceful spot in her life.

"What are you smiling about?"

Her smile was contagious and Elijah instinctively smiled like a fool himself. He enjoyed watching her like that the most. Nothing more did he wanted than for her to have a happy life.

"Just about the fact the hospital grants me most peace in my life now. Strange isn't it?"

Their hands lightly touched as they moved. With any other person they wouldn't have noticed it, but with each other, sparks flew whenever their skin connected, which was driving both of them crazy.

"No, it's not strange. You know, I came here for the same reason as you did. I seemed shelter after some tragic events in my life. I wanted to start over and I found my deeper meaning of life here. Unfortunately, it's not the safest place. Enemies found out about your existence, Mila."

His words surprised her slightly. She hadn't had the time to figure out what the images from his life meant and of course he hadn't really told her why he was actually here. A vampire working as a surgeon. He must've had bigger errands to run as one of the first vampires ever existing. Another similarity between them. When they came here, they tried to forget, but unexpectedly they found a reason to look into the future.

"I know what you're trying to imply. I understand that I can't stay here forever with what's going on, but I want to enjoy it as long as I can. What reason to fight for my life if I can't appreciate it?"

Elijah nodded understandingly. He would give her the time she needed for as long as he could, hoping that he could keep their foes away from her tracks as long as possible. But her magic already broke through the bracelet, it wouldn't be long until someone would sense it.

They reached the pediatric ICU and concentrated on their patient. Another child with heart failure, but with a good prognosis. Mila had accompanied the case since the mother gave birth. She was standing right to her daughter's tiny bed and smiling while Elijah explained the process of surgery, while Mila did a quick check up on the baby. Barely did she notice how close and natural she and her boss worked together. They didn't need to exchange words to know hat the other would be doing, they were the perfect team. But sometimes, there were little gestures that showed that there was more than a good worker's relation. When Elijah reached over to get something from the little space in between the bed's he gently grabbed Mila's hip to not get her out of balance. She took the stethoscope hanging around his neck, because she forgot her's in her locker. Elijah touched her shoulder when told the mother that she would assist in her child's surgery. Everything went unnoticed for them, because it felt like they have been like that forever.

After Elijah went on to the next cases, Mila stayed to prepare the baby for the OR. The mother, Mrs Arnold, looked after Elijah with a lifted brow.

"Who was that hot doctor?"

She smirked and Mila laughed, she liked the young mother. Of course it was always sad to have an ill child, but she adapting to it so well. Mila tried to spent comfort as often as she could.

"He's the chief of surgery and a brilliant cardiac surgeon. Dr. Mikaelson is the best you could get for your daughter."

Mrs. Arnold wiggled her eyebrows at Mila which made her chuckle even more.

"I'm sure of that. But I think he's a good choice for you as well."

Mila continued to prepare the daughter, injecting syringes into the inflow.

"He's just a friend."

She had to say this for the second time this day. Was it really that obvious?

"That's not what friends look like, with you two all touchy while examining my child. I would've been quite mad if I didn't know that you could multi-task. Saving the world while getting the hot doctor. That's not fair!"

Mila shook her head, grinning from ear to ear. It was refreshing, chatter about love drama, making it feel like a normal thing everyone had to deal with.

"I'm sorry, I just need to distract myself from my baby being in surgery. Playing amor is a good start. Please, can you invite me to your wedding?"

They laughed in unison and Mrs. Arnold caressed her girl's cheek gently, her gaze turning serious. Mila squeezed her shoulder sympathetically. With all the supernatural things going on, it was surprising how little her problems seemed when seeing a young mother with an ill child.


	11. Chapter 11

It was the day of Laura's wedding. Mila was terribly nervous. She had been invited to dozens of marriages before, but mostly to distant relatives or not that close friends. Never had she really cared what to wear as she only owned one dress for those occasions, because she always had referred to those events as pretty boring and a waste a time. But today it was Laura that married. The women had grown close to each other and Mila helped her with the last minute planning. Moreover, she was nervous about the fact that Elijah accompanied her. It wasn't really a date or something, but still she wanted to look beautiful tonight, showing him that she could different from her usual outfit: scrubs or a jeans-tshirt combination without any makeup, hair in a high ponytail.  
Mila bought a new dress for the occasion at shop where Laura had bought her wedding gown. They went there together actually for a fitting appointment of Laura's dress, but Mila found a dress that she instantly fell in love with. When she tried it on, she felt beautiful for the first time in years. Dan never had given her the feeling of being extraordinary, but she had been ok with being normal. She wasn't anymore, she had changed since her parent's death and again since she triggered the curse. Mila was slowly accepting and embracing her true nature. The dress was of a light pink shade and hugged her curves perfectly. It was elegant, emphasizing her classical features and her healthy skin tone. The long skirt fell around her long legs flowingly. Laura had nodded approvingly and convinced Mila to buy the expensive dress. She never spent her wage on anything but her rent and food, so why shouldn't she buy something nice for her best friend's wedding? Today the dress looked even better as Mila tried hard adjust everything in a fitting manner. Her shoes matched the tone of the dress as did the small, restrained rose-gold jewelry which her mother had bought her for her birthday some years ago. Her hair fell down in soft curls around her shoulders, just some strands of the front were braided back to keep the hair out of her face. She did little make up around her light eyes, giving them a cat eye look with a hint of eyeliner. The highlight was the red lipstick Mila applied to her full lips, making them look perfectly kissable. Not that she wanted that tonight. She looked perfect for this wedding. Mila wouldn't steal off the attention from the bride, she cleaned up very well, making her more confident. Dan and her had argued for long when she told him that Elijah would escorting her to the wedding as he was also invited. Usually Dan hated weddings and she always had to go alone, but of course when he found out that her boss would take her he was beyond angry. With every fight Mila grew more distant. She slept on the sofa nearly every night and managed to not have shifts together with Dan. But today she had the feeling that things would escalate. "You look beautiful." Her boyfriend stated when she came out of the bathroom, his voice somehow held back, like he didn't want to show emotion. Mila knew that he wasn't lying and that it was just her that didn't find him attractive anymore. It was over, but she couldn't bring up the courage to say it out loud. "Thank you..." Awkward silence erupted and Mila shifted uncomfortably. The loud ring of the bell fortunately ended it. Elijah always had the perfect timing. Before she could discreetly rush down the stairs and meet him outside, Dan stopped her with his arm and went to the door himself. When he opened the door and Elijah saw Dan instead of Mila, the Original's smile faded and he looked down to the slightly shorter man. He straightened his already broad shoulder and his gaze grew intimidating. Compared to him, Dan looked like a little fool. Mila coughed awkwardly to interrupt the tensed situation and Elijah's eyes shifted to her. His lips parted slightly as he was taking in her appearance. She always looked lovely for him, but tonight she was beyond stunning. He clenched his hands in order to keep himself from grabbing her and kissing her here and now. At the same time Mila admired him, too. He wore a perfectly fitted suit, shaping his muscular body sharply. Elijah wore it with a confidence, only people that dressed up like that often showed. But never had she seen him in a suit before. Now it was Dan who cleared his throat angrily. Of course he saw the way Elijah looked at his girlfriend and it was making him furious, especially when he noticed that Mila returned the look. "Shall we?" Elijah stated casually after he entered the small apartment. Mila nodded and wanted to go to him, but was stopped by Dan grabbing her.  
"Wait, you forgot a proper goodbye." The nurse tried to kiss her, claiming Mila in front of his opponent, but she placed her hand on his chest and pushed him away.  
"Stop, you'll ruin my makeup." She faked a giggle and tried to get away, but Dan grabbed her wrist hard and pulled her back with an angered sound. Elijah was between them in a split second. The quick movement confused Dan, he let go of Mila and stepped back. A cold, cruel smile appeared on the Original's face, it scared Mila to the edges. He grabbed Dan's shoulder and looked him deep into his eyes, a wild spark visible in them. "Don't you ever, EVER, touch her again like that." He emphasized every word in a cold tone, but didn't raise his voice. Instead he started to squeeze his shoulder and Dan winced in pain. Mila feared that he was about to break his bones and her eyes grew wide.  
"Elijah!"  
Her voice brought him back to reality and he lightly padded her boyfriend, the arrogant smile being back to her face. "You should be thankful, I show mercy to you, because she asks me to. I won't be that merciful again." With that, he turned to face Mila. His gaze darkened slightly when his eyes fell on her now pale skin and shaken expression. He sighed and held his arm out for her, leading her to his car. ...  
Elijah quickly drove into the direction of the Laura's estate, where the wedding would take place. The Original looked kind of shaken, anger still in his eyes, but he tried to cover it, in order to not scare Mila. "I'm sorry."  
She shook her head and smiled, gently placing her fingers on top of his. Sometimes she couldn't believe how awesome he was with her. Of course he wasn't sorry, he protected her and he would never be sorry for that. He was sorry for scaring her, but she trusted him deeply. Never would he do anything against her will. Mila wasn't mad, especially not on him. It was Dan that ruined the start of a beautiful evening. "I'm not. Dan was an ass tonight and I need to talk to him urgently about such matters. Thank you for protecting me. I sometimes just forget how strong you really are." He spared her a surprised glance. Maybe she was finally the person that accepted him as who he was. That he could be violent in the matter of seconds. He was afraid of hurting her, but he would try hard to always be a good man for her. "Just promise me to be careful, Mila. I can't even think about what would I do if..." Not able to find the right words, Elijah let them fade out in the cool air. Mila understood what he meant and nodded reassuringly. Comfortable silence filled the car until they pulled into the long driveway of the property. Elijah stopped his car and turned to face her. "I have a little gift for you." He said all of a sudden and Mila lifted her eyebrows. A gift? They were just going to a wedding, Laura should be the one to receive gifts. "You don't have to..." Without minding her refusing words, Elijah took out a small, but long velvet box out of his pocket and opened the lid before handing it to her. Her eyes grew wide as she looked down to see a beautiful bracelet in the box. It was rose gold, matching the necklace she had gotten from her mother. The shape was like thick chain, but still it looked delicate and elegant. It fitted perfectly to her outfit. The Original took the bracelet out of the box and wrapped it around her wrist carefully, admiring how wonderful it looked on her. He smiled, her expression already had given away that she liked it. But he had to admit that it felt good that something that he gave to her was no touching her smooth skin. "How did you know that I would wear rose-gold jewelry tonight?" Mila turned her wrist, the cool material felt pleasant on her skin. She loved this piece instantly and wore herself to wear it as often as she could, but also would carry it with greatest care so she wouldn't loose it.  
"A little birdie told me." He chuckled and got out of the car, quickly walking around it to open the door for Mila. She rolled her eyes and interlaced her arm with his. "Laura, right?" The Original nodded and led her to the huge building. They walked through the door and were welcomed by quietly playing music. Everything was decorated with white and rose colored flowers. It was lovely, a romantic atmosphere was built, matching the awesome people that were about to get married. "Mila!" Her name was whispered from up the stairs and she saw a nervous looking bride peeking around the corner. Never had she seen Laura upset. She always seemed so calm and even a bit cold, but she got to know the person behind the wall of toughness. Laura motioned for Mila to follow her. The younger werewolf shot Elijah a apologetic look and moved to the room Laura motioned for her to get in. She really looked upset, she even seemed like she had cried. "Are you alright?" Mila asked and frowned. A marriage was supposed to be something nice, but those weren't tears of happiness. "My...my parents. It's tradition for a father to walk his daughter down the aisle and the mother to be some kind of bridesmaid. I'm royalty, so it's quite important...I've imagined this for so long now, but...but they never were good with me being together with Ben, because he isn't a high born werewolf. They haven't spoken to me in quite a long time, but I thought they would respect the tradition and at least come to my wedding but today their assistant called...their assistant, Mila! and told me they were 'occupied'. This is what I have to call family!"  
Tears streamed her eyes again and Mila pulled her into a comforting hug, she gently padded her back to not destroy her lavishly done hair and gave her time to simply cry. It was a good feeling, that both of them hadn't to be strong around each other. They could cry, give in to their depressing problems for a short while. Mila also had that with Elijah, but for Laura she was the first person ever where she was understood.  
"They aren't your family, Laura. I know, people say 'you don't get to choose your family' but that's bullshit. Your family are the people that care for you, that admire you. Those people are waiting outside to celebrate you big day. Because your a wonderful person, Laura. You deserve the people that love you." It made Mila's best friend smile, happy about the fact that Mila always found the right words. Laura wiped her tears away and checked her make up in the mirror shortly. Waterproof make up was the best invitation of the last decade. "But now there's no one to walk me down...or to stand behind me when I speak my vows." Mila grabbed Laura's hands and looked at her determined. "I think I got an idea for that. Do you want to come out with me and start a revolution to that old ass tradition?" The bride looked at her confused, but a smirk appeared on her face and she nodded. They were so alike. Laura always to wanted a better leader, bring fresh air into those old structures of packs. Mila pulled the bride with her back into the huge front hall, were Elijah still waited for them. He was alone, as all the other guests already had taken their seats outside in the garden, were the wedding would take place. He had a glass of champagne in his hand and pulled up a brow when he saw the women grinning widely. When they had approached the vampire, Mila took the glass of out his hand and handed it to Laura, who gulped with one sip. "She needs that right now." Mila laughed to which Elijah smiled. She then whispered in his ear, explaining what was going on. A minute later, the three of them were standing near the glass doors that lead outside. Laura's arm was interlaced with Elijah's and Mila stood behind them. When they went through the doors so all the guests could see them, a gasp went through the crowd. Unfortunately it wasn't because they admired Laura's looks,she looked completely stunning, Mila noted in her mind, but they started murmuring about who led her down the aisle. Elijah, an Original, a vampire, an enemy was at her side and Mila, a newbie werewolf, born into another pack, a stranger of some kind was behind her. It was a scandal. As Mila saw Ben's facial expression, Mila's smile grew wider. He only had eyes for his beautiful bride, he was completely stunned. It proved how tender and moving love could be, making a usually strong, tough man on the brick of tears. Elijah placed Laura's hand in Ben's. The Original ignored the hateful stares coming from the people around them, he just smiled amused. At first he hadn't like the idea, as he usually honored traditions. But he was another man now. He was since 5 years and especially since he met Mila. After his job was finished, he turned to walk to his seat in the first row. When he passed Mila, he lightly touched her hand and they shared a smile. She took her position behind the bride when thy moved to the altar. The Original couldn't really pay attention to the ceremony, he was too deeply consumed by admiring Mila. She was so beautiful, so kind, so perfect and imperfect at the same time. He wanted to badly to make her his, but it wasn't that easy. Love was also a complicated matter. Half an hour later, the group of guests had scarred around the garden after the official ceremony had ended. A lot of tears where shed, a lot of chattering and bickering about the breaking of traditions what made, but the happiest were the newly wed couple that danced in the middle of it. It was quiet for that moment, as everyone forgot about reality and problems and watched the two and were touched by the intimacy of their dance. This was one of the most gorgeous things Mila had ever seen. When the first dance ended, the music grew louder and the some people stormed the dance floor. Mila looked around to find Elijah, but was instead grabbed by Laura how forced her to dance with her. The women laughed and simply partied for some time. "Thank you, Mila. You saved my wedding." Laura hugged her again, but continued to dance. Mila admired how she could dance in the long dress, she didn't even stumble or anything. "You should thank Elijah, he was the one who walked you down the aisle." Mila winked and Laura pulled up her brows and gave her meaningful look to which Mila rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Please, don't start. No, we haven't talked yet. Not really." "I suggest you shouldn't talk, you should make out. I mean it, Mila. I can't bear all those tension in the hospital anymore." Laura laughed again. She was so deep in her own happiness, she wanted nothing more than for her best friend to have it, too.  
"I don't know...I'm just so twisted and complicated. I have so much unsolved history." Now Laura bursted out laughing. Sometimes it was still strange how little she knew about the supernatural world.  
"Mila, he's a thousand years old. A thousand years of unsolved family business, the Mikaelsons are pretty famous in our world. Do you even know what he sacrificed five years ago?"  
The young doctor looked at her feet, slightly ashamed. She had seen what was in Elijah's mind and she was referring to herself as complicated. "I've seen what happened. But I never really understood it and I didn't want to press the matter any further with him." "Five years ago, an ancient spirit took over his niece's body and mind, making it the most dangerous witch the world has ever seen. Your a direct descendant of this spirit, Mila, that's what why so many people will be behind you if someone finds out about your existence. This spirit can't be killed, but of course they wanted their little girl back. The Mikaelsons always have been dysfunctional and kind of ill, but they sticked together. They honored a vow, always & forever, especially Elijah. He spent his whole immortal life to protect his family and keep them from breaking apart. But in order to defeat the Hallow, they had to divide the spirit. Each siblings carries a part of it inside him. They can't be near each other again. Hope, the little girl, has to grow up without her father and his siblings because of that. She only has your sister, her mother left. It broke Elijah's heart. He knew he couldn't live with that, he knew that he couldn't keep away from his family. In order to protect those he loves, he let himself get compelled to forget his vow, the emotions; love and pain equal; and everything he ever felt for them." Laura explained to her in a serious voice. Tears pooled in Mila's eyes. This was horrible. What he had to endure...She understood it now. This is why most of his memories are so emotionless. It's because he can't remember feeling anything. This story is so sad, she had the urge to find Elijah and tell him how sorry she was. But she couldn't, she had to stay stable for him. Mila wanted to be his safe haven, the person where he could forget about all those burdens. She squeezed Laura's hand and apologized herself and left, going inside the house as she needed to think. Entering a study, she slowly walked through the rows of lined up books. It cleared her head, but she still didn't come any further in the matter of her feelings for Elijah. She sighed and stood in front of a large window. A minute later, she heard the door open behind her and Mila glanced over her shoulder to find Elijah. He stood there and silently watched her.  
"I think you owe me a dance, Mila."  
The Original whispered as he felt this tension between them again. When he first saw the girl, he was drawn to her because the Hallow wanted it. Now it was himself that couldn't stay away from her. He clenched his fists, fighting his urges. "I'm not in the mood for dancing, Elijah." She turned to face him, her gaze was intense. A fire burned in her eyes and it slowly took over her body. Mila didn't want to fight anymore. For once, she wanted to do something selfish. Without even noticing, both of them moved closer to each other, like to predators walking around each other, examining. Their gazes were fixed on each other. The expression in Elijah's eyes would've scared anyone away, but not Mila. She understood who he was. She knew that he was dangerous. But she was, too.  
"What do you want then?" His voice was so deep, it sent shivers of pleasure down her spine. This question wasn't referring to dancing anymore. "You." When the word was spoken, Elijah suddenly pulled her close to her and they finally passed the so short distance between their lips. It wasn't a gentle kiss, this was pure hunger as it was so overdue. Mila's arms were wrapped around his neck, her hands entangled his soft hair. She was pressed into the brick wall behind her shortly after, and she allowed his tongue entrance into her mouth as his strong hands held her by the waist. Emotions exploded inside them and none of them knew how to stop. It felt like they couldn't be apart ever again. The smell of her blood was still seducing for Elijah, but right now it only added to this awesome feeling of release.  
Just as Elijah's lips moved from her mouth to her neck, they were interrupted from a loud thud coming from outside and gasps and yelling following the sound. They jumped apart and panted, on the edge of continuing and pretending that they didn't care, but reality had them back quickly. Something had happened and they needed to make sure that Laura's wedding day wasn't ruined. 


	12. Chapter 12

Mila and Elijah rushed down the stairs and went out of the door leading to the garden. No one spared attention for their arrival, as they all had rounded around Laura, Ben and an unfamiliar man. Laura was surrounded by her pack, looks of shock but also determination on their faces. They were ready to protect their queen.

The intruder was around Mila's age, he had a cocky grin on his face and wore simple clothing, pretty underdressed for this occasion. Five men were behind him, all with the same provoking smile and even more rugged clothes on.

Savages, sounded in Mila's mind.

Elijah seemed to feel the danger radiating off them, too, as he pushed Mila behind him and blocked her view. She was happy that he was there to protect her, but she was a grown woman. Mila placed a hand on his arm, implying that she at least wanted to stay at his side. He gave her a long look, his eyes filled with wary and distrust towards the 'guests', but he gave in and let her move to his side. Elijah would always protect her at all cost, but with the kiss they shared, his feelings intensified. Even though she was a werewolf, she was so fragile comparing to him. In such a situation he wanted to make sure that he could always step in front of her.

Just then Mila noticed that a corpse was laying at his feet. Her eyes widened in shock. In contrary to Elijah she wasn't used to see corpses laying around.

"Congratulations to your wedding, dear Laura."

Laura tensed, her eyes were filled with fury. Mila was sure that her friend knew this guy. It looked like very old history.

"I would hurry with an explanation to why you killed a member of my pack, if I were you."

The usually so calm leader hissed. It shocked Mila that the dead girl was a member of the pack, she probably had a family.

"Why so grim, Laura? This is a wedding. I came to bear a gift. One of my guys caught the little one here on my land, talking to a stranger...a witch if I remember right...about a new wolf in town. A wolf that has the ability to let a raging storm loose, like the one that raged at the time of the full moon..."

His gaze examined the faces of all of the guests. It lasted a split second longer on Mila as on the others. Elijah tensed and protectively wrapped his arm around her waist.

"Unfortunately, the witch slipped through my hands, but the traitor here didn't. As I'm a generous man, I thought I would clear this matter for you and give her a proper punishment. There you go."

James touched the corpse with the tip of his shoe carelessly and disgusted, but stepped back to symbolically hand it over to Laura.

"Thank you. But next time, you can call me before you execute someone. We could've gotten information out of her."

Laura spoke through clenched teeth. She wouldn't allow James to find out about Mila. He would either kidnap or kill her, depending on his mood. Of course Elijah would protect her, but even an Original had his limits.

"But she was a lair, wasn't she? You would've told me and the other alphas if there was a new creature among us, wouldn't you? Because then, we would have to hold a trial, deciding if she would be a threat."

James eyes suddenly bore into Mila's. He knew, he had figured it out. Mila flinched and grabbed Elijah's hand, but didn't lower her gaze, she stared back at him, trying not to show fear.

Next to her Elijah held his breath on the edge to lashing out. This wolf was a threat and if he tried to touch Mila, the Original wouldn't care if he would set a war off. The setting of the wedding was the only reason why he didn't attack just now.

"Interesting friends you decide to stick around with, Laura."

James gaze wandered to Elijah and they exchanged a challenging look. But before a fight could start, the wolf grinned, turned around and left without another word.

The tension ended all of a sudden. Everyone let put a sharp breath, some rushed to the dead girl's side instantly.

"We need to get out of here."

Elijah looked around warily and held Mila's hand. This girl surely wasn't the only traitor around here. The Original barely knew anyone here besides Laura and Ben and he was sure that there were enough around that could use a witches favor. Besides, the witch this wolf had caught was gone, off to tell their enemies of Mila's existence.

Mila allowed herself to shiver, she was scared like hell, but this was Laura's big day. She couldn't leave her alone like this. The young wolf caught her best friend's gaze. Laura nodded, implying that she was ok. She knew that Mila needed to kept save after such a threat.

After sighing defeated, she followed Elijah to the car. It was a silent ride, so many things had happened today. Words stayed unspoken, especially when it came to their moment in the library. They secretly took a side glance of each other, but no one dared to speak.

But when they reached the city, a discussion about Mila's safety broke out. Mila wanted to go to her apartment, continuing as usual. She wouldn't let herself be suppressed by this wolf guy. Elijah wanted quite the opposite, he wished for her to come to his home, even though he could understand that this invaded her privacy. They had shared a kiss, but it was still very complicated. But she wasn't save in her flat, adding that there was probably a very drunk boyfriend waiting for her. He wasn't good enough for Mila. Elijah himself wasn't good enough, too, but at least he never would hurt intentionally.

"Elijah, you can't lock me in. You've always respected me, don't stop that now. I want to live, I want to be a happy person. I can't do that when I'm always hiding, always staying in the shadows. Please, just give some more time in freedom."

She didn't beg or asked for his permission, she wanted for him to respect her wishes. It changed something in Elijah and he slowly nodded. Five years ago he would've acted differently. But he wasn't that person anymore. He found his own happiness here and understood that Mila didn't want to bind herself because of the lurking danger. Today he wouldn't call his thousand years of existence a 'life'. He spent thousand years of lifetime trying to protect a vow that never was meant to survive, he tried to find redemption for a family that broke him to pieces. But Mila slowly fixed him, with every look she gave him, whenever she touched him.

"Thank you."

Mila smiled lightly and squeezed his hand. He slowed the car down until it stopped in front of the house where her apartment was located in.

"Just promise to be careful."

Of course Mila knew that he didn't just mean their enemies or whatever they were, he also meant Dan. Elijah cupped her cheek with his hand and she closed her eyes. How should she tell Dan? She couldn't lie anymore, especially now that it was clear what Elijah and Mila felt for each other. Mila was afraid of Dan's reaction.

"I promise."

She looked back again at Elijah. His gaze shortly wandered to her lips, but he leaned forward and simply kissed her forehead. Mila sighed and got out of the car and went directly to the door, before she could think about turning around and continue to kiss Elijah.

The flat was dark when Mila arrived back in, which meant that Dan was already in bed. She let out a deep breath of relief and quietly went into the bathroom to change into her sleeping clothes. But on her way she was suddenly stopped by a hand on her shoulder. Mila flinched heavily in surprise.

"Hey."

Dan whispered. Mila's eyes were wide in shock and she quickly turned the light switch on and examined her boyfriend. He looked normal, not even that drunk. She didn't know if that should calm her or not.

"Hey..."

The young doctor had no idea whether she should tell him now or not. She felt so bad carrying this secret around with her, but Dan had become unpredictable.

"Mila...I want to apologize for earlier...I don't know why I was so overly jealous. I'm truly sorry."

Her gaze shot up, not expecting those words. He never had apologized for his behavior. The guilt grew heavier on her shoulders. Before she could open her mouth, Dan interrupted her.

"No, no, you don't have to say anything. Just listen. Mila, you're the most wonderful person I know and when you left me...I was broken, I didn't know how to live anymore. But when I found you it was all back. I love you."

Dan went on his knee and held out a small velvet box. Mila's eyes widened, but not in pleasure. He seemed to interpret it really wrong and was encouraged to continue.

"Dan..."

She started to interrupted him, but he didn't listen.

"Mila, will you become my wife?"

This went so wrong. She had told him dozens of times that she didn't want to marry, but this time he didn't listen and caught her cold. Mila did the most horrible thing she could do to him right now, but she couldn't hold it back anymore.

"I kissed Elijah."

She blurted and silence erupted. Dan's hand lowered and he looked at her confused, he seemed not to understand what she had just admitted. Mila ruined his big moment and she started to shiver in fear when his expression turned into pure rage.

Stepping back carefully, she stretched out her hands, helplessly trying to calm him. But he stood up and caged her at the wall.

"So I was right the whole time. You're such a whore."

He said dangerously calm and dared her to look at him. His breath hit her, she still could smell cheap alcohol on him.

"I...I'm sorry..."

She wasn't sorry for kissing Elijah, but she was sorry for cheating on him and she was terribly afraid.

"That's what you are, Mila. You're a dirty whore and you don't deserve anything. I should make you feel how I feel right now."

It was when his fist hit her face for the first time. She groaned both in pain and surprise. Mila knew he had a big problem with rage and alcoholism, but never had he been violent to her. The sweet boy that had been good to her in her old life was dead inside.

"Dan, no!"

But he didn't stop. He landed three punches in total on her face. When Mila felt blood dripping down her cheek, she lost hit. The magic inside her got the best of her and threw him into the wall opposite them. It had knocked him out and she stared at his unconscious body for some time. When she finally came back into reality, she left. She neither cared that he was unconscious, nor did she care that she didn't pack anything. Mila just knew that there was only one place where she could go. Where she was safe from harm. Elijah. His name sounded in her name for the whole way.

Suddenly it had started to rain heavily and Mila was sure that it had something to do with her magic. It was a long way to get to Elijah's home as he lived in a nicer neighborhood than her. By the time she arrived at his doorstep, she was soaked.

But she didn't care. She couldn't really feel anything, not even the throbbing pain in her face. Maybe this was how PTSD felt like. Or it was just the adrenaline that made her body move and not feel any mental or physical pain.

She knocked on the door and Elijah opened the door shortly after. Until then, her face had been blank, but when she saw his look changing from confusion to deep worry, she broke down. Tears started to run down her pale face and burned in the healing wounds.

This was what she loved about Elijah. Of course anger would come to surface later one, but at first, he was only worried about her. He cared so deeply for her that he could even but the urge of revenge aside.

Without another word he wrapped his arm around her shoulder and carefully led her inside.


	13. Chapter 13

"You're a werewolf, Mila. Why haven't you defend yourself?"

Elijah wrapped a heavy blanket around her small figure. She was soaked. Werewolves didn't get ill that quick, but getting hypothermia wasn't good for her either.

"I was afraid that I would hurt him."

Mila whispered shivering. Her voice was broken and fearful, not of its usual cheery tone. Usually she kept her emotion right on her tongue, but now Elijah couldn't for once see through her. He was afraid that she would break down at any moment.

„Of course you were…"

Elijah sighed and shook his head. He should've protected her. Never should he have let her go alone to this violent maniac. The Original wanted nothing but good for her and now everything around her was breaking apart. Elijah needed to be the constant for her. As much as he would love to go to this bastard and show him what it got him to ignore his warning, but he would hurt Mila even more with such acts. She hadn't really found out that Elijah was quite violent himself and reckless at that, but in a slightly different way.

"Elijah…this is all my fault…he…he proposed to me and I told him that we kissed and…"

Her shoulders trembled and a sob escaped her lips. She was starting to process what had happened, that she just had been hit by someone she thought she had loved. Elijah wrapped his arms around her and held her close, gently stroking her hair.

"Mila, this isn't your fault. There's no reason to be violent towards someone you pretend to care about."

Mila looked at him with doubt but also hope in her eyes and he smiled down to her. At that moment she was more than grateful to have him, even if everything was so complicated right now.

"Come, you need to take a warm shower and change clothing. We'll care about everything else tomorrow."

He gently led her towards the huge bathroom. Usually Mila would have been curious about the way Elijah lived, what colors he chose for his apartment, but right now she only noticed that everything was huge and modern. Elijah left her alone in the bathroom for privacy. But Mila somewhat missed his presence, even though they definitely weren't on the stage to see each other naked in the bathroom.

The hot water helped her clear her mind. There wasn't any place she could stay and be safe, except for here, together with Elijah. That was actually another stage they weren't supposed to enter as for now. They hadn't even figured out was going on between the two of him. This kiss…Mila loved to remember it, but she was afraid to break the magic it caused by talking about it.

But she had no choice but to stay here. She was hunted by enemies she didn't even know and she felt safe here, but she didn't want to ruin anymore of Elijah's time.

With a sigh she turned the water off and wrapped herself in a towel, looking at her wet dress disgusted. Mila hadn't had anything to wear, so she had to ask for something to sleep in. With a blush creeping on her face, she opened the bathroom door slightly only to see that the bedroom next to it was empty. But there was a neatly folded t-shirt on top of the king size bed. Mila was relieved and entirely grateful that this man always thought ahead. She clutched the shirt to her chest and couldn't help but smell at it with her new heightened werewolf-senses. It smelled just like him, manly, freshly washed with a hint of an expensive after shave. Mila put it and her thankfully dry underwear on and went out of the bedroom.

She found Elijah in the kitchen, flipping through a medical journal while drink an amber colored liquor which looked like bourbon. When he noticed her, his gaze lifted up to see her. His eyes darkened shortly when he saw her in his shirt which hung exquisitely around her small curves. He still was a man after all.

"How is this supposed to go on?"

Elijah looked down again after she spoke, suddenly pretty interested in this article about progress in cancer research as he noticed the double meaning of her words.

"I won't force you to anything, but I would recommend that you stay here until I find a way to keep you away from all…this."

His hand moved through nothingness, trying to find a word for the unpleasantly large group of enemies they had. Mila looked around the kitchen to distract herself. She too noticed how he was avoiding the other topic, so she wouldn't start of it again.

"Isn't it a little too late for that? I'm already doomed. But Elijah, if it means that I have to lock myself up forever, I don't want to live this life."

He was in front of her within a split second, a whoosh of her hitting her bare legs. Her eyes widened a bit as she still hadn't grown accustomed to this inhuman speed. But what hit her even more off guard was that he was cupping her cheek with on hand while placing the other on her waist only to lean down and kiss her gently. After the moment of surprise was gone she instantly kissed him back. It was the opposite of the kiss they shared at the wedding. This kiss was slow, of course still beyond sexy and it was spreading warmth through Mila's cold body. Shivers ran down her spine in pleasure and she lightly steadied herself by grabbing his broad shoulders.

"I will protect you and I will try to keep your life as normal as possible. I give you my word on that. You just have to bear with my presence a bit more than usual."

Elijah placed another kiss on her forehead while gently pulling her into his chest. She smiled, which was a great relief for Elijah. Seeing her smile made him whole, feel her warmth again gave him hope. Hope for a colorful future.

Since he left his family Elijah had felt better than in thousand years, but there was still more darkness than he could bear. His heart was filled with emptiness because such a big part of his life was missing. But Mila fixed that. Whenever she was around him, he could feel the worth of life again. Elijah only needed her and he was thankful that she was here.

"I don't think I'll have a problem with that."

Weeks passed and with every day Mila liked living with Elijah more. He was good to her, better than anyone who she had known had been to her. The gentleman he was, he had given her a spare bedroom in his huge apartment. He cooked for her, he helped her getting her belongings from her old flat.

Sometimes they sat together in the evening and just read books or journals or whatever his huge library was offering. There were so many very old medical books which filled Mila with great joy. She hoped that they could start a research project together as she was full of inspiration.

But the best thing about it was that their relationship thrived. They still hadn't come clear in a ‚boyfriend/girlfriend' thing, but that wasn't really needed. When they weren't talking, they were cuddling, kissing or just enjoying each others presence. It was exactly what Mila always had wanted. They cared deeply for each other, but still their relationship was somewhat easy, they simply did what they wanted to do. No more complications or secret keeping and it felt good.

"How was your day?"

Mila entered the on-call room and found Elijah sitting on one of the small beds. The young doctor smiled widely when she saw him and sat on his lap. Wrapping her arms around his neck.

"If you consider cleaning syphilis-struck penises a good days work, then yeah, I had a good day."

Elijah scrunched his nose and had a somewhat horrified look on his face by the mind image. It made Mila laugh, because it so not fitted his handsome and elegant face.

"I definitely should change the plans. I kind of don't like the thought of you treating other men's genitals."

She grinned and leaned closer to him, nearly touching his lips with hers.

"How unprofessional of you, Dr. Mikaelson."

Elijah found himself pleased by her playful mood and purposely coincidental, his hands slipped under the shirt of her scrubs and caressed the fair skin of her stomach which made her breath hitch.

"You shouldn't disrespect your chief of surgery, Dr. Labonair. I heard that this couldn't end well for you."

He flipped them over so Mila was under him. The muscles of his arms flexed as he hovered over her before attacking her soft lips. A little moan escaped her mouth as his lips wandered down to her neck. His teeth scratched the sensitive flesh and Mila urgently pulled at the hem of his scrubs.

Her hands touched the hard muscles of his stomach and she couldn't wait to see his bare chest. He had been so much of a gentleman that he hadn't walked around shirtless in his own home, much to Mila's despair. Becoming a werewolf had also heightened that special kind of need and Elijah was the steamiest allure she had ever seen in her life.

But also Elijah was desperate make her his. He had resented for so long, trying to make slow progress so she could find out what she really wanted. In the beginning her blood had called for him to drink her dry, but now it added to her beautiful appearance. The thought of hurting her was unbelievable for him, the only thing he could think about was how to pleasure her the most.

Just as Elijah's fingers unlaced the strings attached to her trousers, the door suddenly flung open.

"Dr. Labonair the tests have…"

The intern interrupted himself as he saw the scene unfolding in front of him. Due to being distracted, Elijah hadn't heard him and Mila had forgotten to lock the door.

Elijah shot the young man a death glare that made him shiver to the bones and quickly jumping outside again. The Original groaned and wanted to continue, but Mila pushed him away and jumped up from the bed, fixing her scrubs. For a second Elijah was worried that she regretted it, but when he saw that Mila couldn't hold back a smirk, it was washed away. He tried to grab her hips and pull her back to him, but his love laughed and playfully slapped his shoulder.

"Elijah, I thought you're a proper gentleman!"

"Maybe that's just facade."

The Original stood up and stole one last kiss before letting her go. Mila was blushed crimson red when she walked outside to face the horrified intern. A few weeks ago Mila would've been embarrassed that their relationship was now out in the open, but she didn't care anymore. She was proud of what they had and her colleagues were the smallest problem she was facing.

When she was around Elijah, she was beyond happy. She wished that this could go on like this forever. But she knew that this was unrealistic, so every morning, when she woke up in her room that the coming day was another peaceful.

Later one, when she passed by Elijah in the ward, her cheer mood lit up again when she saw the grumpy and unsatisfied look he had on his face. The way he walked also gave away that he had a certain kind of problem farther down.

She flashed him an innocent smile and he stopped and leaned down to whisper in her ear. They fortunately were alone. Even though none of them was interested in hiding anything anymore, they still wanted to stay somewhat professional.

"I've got a little surprise for you tonight. We'll have enough time to change at home, but be quick after your shift."

He smiled and kissed her cheek after checking that no one was looking. Mila closed her eyes shortly and continued on her way. She was so thankful that she met Elijah Mikaelson, she sometimes couldn't believe her luck.


	14. Chapter 14

"Elijah, what are you doing?" Mila chuckled. When they entered his apartment, Elijah covered her eyes with his hands and led her inside. Sometimes he could be so sweet, it made Mila's heart swell. He led her to the huge piano in the middle of the room. After removing his hands, Mila saw that there was an envelope placed on it. She lifted an eyebrow and shot him a confused glance.  
"Open it." He grinned while he waited. Mila carefully opened it and pulled two concert tickets out. Her eyes widened when she saw the name of the band playing. She started to jump up and down in excitement.  
"You bought tickets for Imagine Dragons! I thought they were sold out!" She fell into his arms and hugged him tightly, a wide smile plastered on her face, not believing that he really did that for her. "You once told me that you tried to get tickets but the were already sold out...let's just say I have my contacts." Mila thanked him another hundred times before she rushed off into her bedroom to find something to wear. Elijah watched her joy with delight, sometimes she still surprised him with her cheerful manner. She was his light in the darkness and with every day he spent with her, he felt himself lighten up, too. He more and more forgot about the person he used to be. Never had he met a person that brought so much good in his life. Elijah smiled when Mila came back, ready to go out. He pulled her close and kissed her full red lips while she laughed and complained about ruining her make up. They were beyond happy when they went out of Elijah's home, heading to the concert.

Niklaus followed after his brother and the girl he held in his arms. The sun shone brightly as they came nearer to the stadium where the concert would take place. Elijah's arm was wrapped around her waist, he looked at her while he talked to her smiling. He looked happy, joyful to be precise. Klaus hadn't seen him like that often. The hybrid smiled, when he stopped to gently kiss her. He hadn't seen her face yet, but her long brunette hair and her exquisite shape hinted for a true beauty. He came here to check on his brother, which he did every some months. It was good to see him like that, he seemed to finally have found his redemption. Of course it still bothered Klaus that he knew that Elijah would never come looking for him as he forgot that he ever loved his family. It had cost him a lot of strength to take that fact in, but deep inside him Klaus knew that it was the right decision for Elijah. After they continued to walk, the girl seemed to be tensed, she seemed to noticed that they were being watched. But when he looked over her shoulder to glance behind her, Klaus' word moved in slow motion for a second. It was her. Mila Labonair, the girl he hunted for months now. Why had it exactly to be her that Elijah fancied? The girl he was supposed to kidnap in order to free his family from the Hallow. After he killed her parents and blew up their house, he had lost of track of her. The last time he had seen her was at the funeral but an urgent call had kept him from taking her. Klaus would have to destroy is brother's happiness, his redemption, but Klaus was ready to do it, even if it was the most selfish thing he ever did. The hybrid sighed and stood and let the couple fade out of sight. Not today. ...  
They danced through the whole night and just enjoyed a short time without any supernatural drama. Pretending to be a normal couple felt good for Mila, it helped her not loosing her connection to her humanity, sometimes she felt so lost and out of place. But her affection for Elijah, her feelings for him let her stay rooted. That it was worth fighting for love and her life.  
Elijah seemed to be a bit stiff when he danced, like it was something he didn't usually do. With time and her unavoidable good mood he loosened up a bit. They were in their little bubble of happiness and good music and lived the time of their lives. At the end of the concert Mila's favorite song 'Dream' came up. She really was living in a dream right now, but it wasn't a nightmare anymore. Turning around and wrapping her arms around his neck, she kissed Elijah passionately. All these good feelings nearly made her cry. Elijah simply held her and returned the kiss. He himself knew the best that every moment could be the last, he had witnessed that quite often in his lifetimes, so it was so important to taste every facet of it. Still he hoped that what they had here would never end. All the bad things lurking in their shadows were blocked out for tonight. Around midnight, they arrived back home. They couldn't keep their hands of each other and felt closer than ever. "Elijah...I don't know how to ask...god, this sounds so ridiculous...would you mind if I sleep in you bed tonight? Um, by your side?" She stumbled upon her own words and her gaze lowered to the floor as she blushed. Elijah chuckled lightly and lifted her chin with his index finger. "It would be my pleasure." Mila nodded shyly and disappeared into the bathroom to change. Sometimes she was so sweet and innocent, he couldn't handle it. He stripped off his clothes and changed into a pair of pants he usually slept in. When she opened the door, her breath hitched in her throat. She never had seen that much of naked skin of him before. His chest was attractively sculpted, it looked exactly like what she imagined. Strong muscles defined his arms and torso and her knees grew weak. She swallowed hard and took all of her minds strength to go straight to the bed. Her body reacted strongly to him, but it wasn't the right time, not the right moment. She would ruin it with the clumsiness she got whenever she was nervous. Next to him she felt so ordinary, even though he showed her every day how beautiful she was to him. He looked amused when he climbed in behind her, but didn't say anything to embarrass her. His arms wrapped around her from behind and she was pulled into his chest. The warmth of his skin felt so good on her and she closed her eyes, feeling immediately calm. She didn't feel awkward anymore, it was so natural to sleep by his side. Mila grew tired instantly, because it was the first time in months that she felt safe and protected when she was asleep. ...  
The next day, she went alone after a long discussion with Elijah. Of course he protested against her going alone, but she jumped in for the shift of an ill colleague. But she also wanted to prove to him that she could handle herself, she didn't need 24/7 protection. Fortunately, he finally respected her choice, but it was obvious how worried he was.  
To be honest Mila herself was kind of nervous. This whole life, always being on the lookout, always looking behind her shoulder was something she would never get used to. Being with Elijah helped her feeling safe, but she didn't want to loose her independence. She wasn't weak, with every day she felt the power in her grow. Both her sides, witch and werewolf, started to cooperate and she was close to getting control. She pecked Elijah on the cheek as goodbye before she walked down the street. Again there was this feeling of being watched, like yesterday when they entered the concert. Mila frowned and took a deep breath. Maybe she was just getting paranoid. But steps got faster when she reached a dark train bridge she had to cross. No one but her was there that early in the morning. From there it wasn't far to the hospital, thanks to Elijah's well located apartment. But still she was cautious. Mila hadn't set a step inside the shadow of the bridge and she was grabbed by the throat and pressed to the dirty wall. Her attacker had a strong grip, too strong to be human. But Mila's instincts had increased and her eyes shown in a golden tone as she fought him with hard kicks. But even though she could reach him, he seemed not affected at all. He just looked at her annoyed, waiting for her to calm. He had short, blonde hair and a smugness on his face, she wished to punch of his handsome features. But there was something on him that reminded her of someone. She closed her eyes and quickly mumbled a spell which seemed to take him by surprise. His movements blurred in front of her eyes, she just assumed that he wanted to hit her unconscious. But his hand stopped right in front of her face. Suddenly, he was ripped of her and Mila fell hard onto the floor. She rubbed the back of her head, but when she heard grunting and cursing she jumped up, ready to run. But then she saw who had stopped the attacker. Elijah. He must've followed her. Now it was him that held the attacker by the throat and pressed him to the floor. His eyes were filled with rage. "Elijah, I..." The stranger mumbled, but was interrupted by a punch directly onto his face.  
"If you ever try to touch her again, Niklaus, I will consider ripping you to shreds." He knew him. Mila's eyes widened and instead of running, she stepped closer to the man. "She's the key, Elijah. If I hand her over, we can be reunited." The young doctor but two and two together and figured that this must be his other younger brother. Particularly the one, with whom her twin sister had a child with. "No one will hand her over. I don't want to be reunited with you lot." His voice was cold as ice and hurt mirrored on Klaus' face. Their relationship seemed to have been different some time ago. "Elijah, it's enough." She gently placed her hand on his shoulder but he simply shrugged it of, throwing her a warning glance. It scared Mila how intimidating he was right now. But he was a vampire after all, why was she even surprised? She always had known that there was another side to this loving, charming man, she hadn't just seen it yet. "Who told you this nonsense?" Elijah growled when he turned back to his brother. Klaus had stopped fighting, but Elijah didn't let go of the collar of his shirt. He knew that his brother wasn't joking, he really seemed to care about the girl. Elijah and him had fought a lot since they were children, but seeing him here, fighting for someone else than him broke Klaus.  
"The lackeys of the hallow...I made a deal with them. Hand her over, get the Hallow out of us, live in peace for the rest of eternity. Elijah, Hope's not the only body worthy for the spirit. She is, too." He motioned in her direction. It bothered how disrespectful he spoke of her, he surely knew her name. But what he told shocked her even more. She barely knew about the Hallows story, but she it was the thing Elijah was protecting her from. So it must be something that definitely threatened her life. "And the Hallow and its lackeys always tell the truth. Has madness made you that stupid, Niklaus?" Elijah hissed, but let go of his brother. He stood up again and positioned himself in front of Mila.  
"Of course I don't trust them. I would kill her myself after they but the spirit in her..." Mila flinched and Elijah bared his teeth as he stepped closer to Klaus. He raised his hands, implying that he meant no harm right now. "...you can't deny that you don't feel it yourself. Her blood...it's different from others and..." Klaus hesitated, looking between Elijah and Mila confused.  
"...it's strange...When I visited you in Manosque, I felt the Hallow raging inside me, as it wanted to united with your part of it...but now it's quiet. Like the girl is somehow disrupting its power or something." Elijah looked over his shoulder to Mila and concentrated. Klaus was right. He didn't feel the spirit's power, too, whenever he was close to Mila. He was too busy to even notice it. Shaking his head, he grabbed Mila's hand and pulled her close to him.  
"I don't care, Niklaus. She will not be harmed, end of story." With one last death glare directed towards his brother, he walked back home together with Mila. 


	15. Chapter 15

After they arrived back at the apartment, Elijah paced up and down the living room while Mila sat on the comfortable couch and pulled her legs to her chest, processing what just happened. She still wasn't sure if Klaus wanted to kill her or kidnap her. To be honest, from what she saw about the Hallow in Elijah's mind, she would've preferred option 1. Mila was so deep into this mess and slowly, but steady it was catching up to her.  
"Elijah..." His pacing made her nervous. He wasn't making this any better by blaming himself. She feared that the paranoia was getting the best of him and he wouldn't leave her out of his sight forever. He didn't really seemed to hear her. He was so far away in his thoughts, she couldn't grasp him. But Mila needed him right now. "Elijah!" Mila shouted at him when he didn't stop. It seemed to rip him out of his thoughts when he heard her and looked into her tormented eyes. The cold, staring mask seemed to fall from his mask and the man Mila fell in love with was back. He immediately walked over to her and took a seat next to her on the couch. "I'm sorry, Mila. For everything." His voice was filled with inner pain and Mila sighed. She stretched her hand out and placed it on his cheek. "It's not your fault." He looked at her and lightly took her hand from his face and interlaced their fingers. "It is Mila. My brother seems to be a ruthless maniac who doesn't care for your life. I don't remember much of him, but I really can't see why I was so head over heels to find his redemption." Mila didn't know that 'old' Elijah but hearing him talking like this about his family hurt her. She herself would do anything to get her family back. "What he said about me being kind of the catalyst for this spirit...it would mean he could reunite with his daughter if I'm nearby or...if he hands me over. Right?" Elijah was impressed by her empathy and selflessness. She would help the man that just threatened to hurt her badly. Again Elijah couldn't understand as to why he deserved this gift of a woman. How could this innocent soul fancy him?  
"Yes, but Niklaus is a danger for you. He isn't stable. It's a risk I'm not willing to take." Mila clenched her fists slightly annoyed. He started to make decisions for her. She wouldn't loose her dignity and freedom, even if she knew that he did this because he cared for her. "Elijah, maybe that's the solution. Invite my...um...sister over with her daughter and we can find a sort of agreement. Klaus still cares for you, even if you can't remember that you ever did for him, but if there's a way that would include him having his daughter with him and me being alive and free of any weird ancient spirit, he would take the chance. I'm sure of it." The Original stood up again, feeling under pressure. The compulsion started to work without him noticing. He didn't want them near her, not if it wasn't necessary. They have brought nothing but mayhem wherever they went and he was too afraid that it would consume Mila. "Mila, I can't protect you here. I've wanted to talk to you about that for a long time and I think you know that...I talked to a witch that I know from my old life. He and my sister still reside in New Orleans and they could help me protect you better." Mila frowned. She didn't want to go anywhere. But he was right, she knew that he was carrying something like that around for a while. "Why New Orleans? We could all start a new life here together." He took her hands in his, he hoped that she could understand him. "Because New Orleans has some kind of order. The witches there have no interest in bringing the Hallow back because they saw what it did to them. You're also a New Orleans witch, you were born there. Your ability to protect yourself will be the highest." After looking at him intensely for a second, she withdrew her hands and flinched at the hurt expression in his eyes. "Which would mean I would give up my freedom, because I don't know anyone there and you won't let me out of your sight. I really enjoy your company, Elijah. But whatever we are...it's too fresh for this. Please, give me time to think." He nodded and lowered his gaze. Mila stormed off into her bedroom. Tonight, she couldn't sleep at Elijah's side. She needed to be alone. But nightmares haunted her. Fear that it would be always like this crept up in her. Still she didn't wished for her old life. She missed her parents in such times desperately, but she had never been really happy, because she never could be her real self. To be precise, she herself never new who she really was. Seems like she was damned to never get her happy end.

"Mila, wake up." Elijah's soft voice woke her up. He kissed her cheek to get her attention, but she just groaned and turned away from him. The Original chuckled and grabbed her by her waist and turned her back. When Mila opened her eyes, she saw this playful smirk back on his face and she couldn't help but return it. Yesterday's disagreement was forgotten for a short time. She wrapped her arms around his neck an pulled him down to her. "Hey." He whispered before he kissed her passionately. It felt good to simply kiss him and that they put their differences aside for now. She had been afraid that things like that would always stand between them. But if there were moments like this, she was ok with it. "Hey...why have you woken me so early?" Mila spoke after they broke the kiss. He hovered over her and looked like always like a Calvin Klein model. His shirt hung loosely down and she could see a glimpse of his toned chest. "I talked to Laura. We're teaching you how to defend yourself. Come, get dressed." Suddenly, with his vampire speed, he lifted her up and threw her over his shoulder to which Mila squeaked. She smacked his butt and Elijah did the same in response, she again let out a noise of surprise by the little pain his hand left. Setting her down, her left his arms around her waist and tried to steal another kiss, but she pulled away. "I would rather like if you'd ask me to undress..." Teasingly she played with his shirt and shot him an innocent glare. Elijah's eyes darkened as he fought for control, much to Mila's pleasure. "To be precise, you have to undress first because you usually shower in the morning so..." He grabbed the hem of her shirt and pulled it over her head. Then he pressed her to the wall and kissed her neck, stroking down her bare back, carefully leaving out the area around her breasts, because it would tip him over the edge. "Would you like to join?" Mila's eyes weren't innocent anymore. She licked her lips, which seduced Elijah even further. The wolf didn't want to wait any more, that was sure. "Careful, Miss Labonair. You're forgetting that I'm the superior here. I take what I want...whenever I want." He gave her another hot kiss before he disappeared. Now Mila really needed to shower to cool down. But she couldn't guarantee that she could keep her hands off Elijah after what just happened. ...  
The wolves were parted into two rows. They all stood casually, grinning excited for their training. Fighting seemed to be a great fun among werewolves, they all looked forward to those days. Mila was now a part of it, even though if she was a bit frightened. Laura stood next to her, her husband opposite her in the other row. Mila's partner was a tall man, but Laura told her that he was the friendliest of the pack. Still she was kind of feared this bunch of muscles. Elijah stood a bit away from the group and watched. He wanted Mila to be among her kind, but he didn't like that she would train with a male wolf. Of course jealousy hit him at the thought of someone else touching her, but he also was afraid that he could hurt her.  
Laura explained some of the basic moves to Mila and then they got into fighting position and the partners moved closer to each other. Mila looked into his eyes determined, but he simply smiled at the smaller girl. Suddenly, sounds of fighting were heard and training began. The young doctor held up her fists and circled around her partner. He gave her the opportunity to do the first move. With all the force she had, she attacked him. She didn't have to hold back to not hurt him, the opposite was the case. Her slim arms and small fists were nothing compared to him. The wolf simply moved to the side and she fell on her knees. He held out his hand to help her up and Mila grabbed his hand so he pulled her to her feet, to which she nodded at him thankfully. But she never felt more useless. She was weak, a failure. Anger rose inside her and she attacked again. Now she reached him, but her fists still hit into thin air. She tried a kick, but the young man simply grabbed her thigh and then she was on the floor, his arm over her throat. All of a sudden, he was gone. When Elijah saw that she was on the floor, this male way to close to her, something clicked in him and he was behind the wolf and violently pulled her way from her, throwing him away like he was a little toy. He landed on the hard ground with a loud thud, but was on his feet seconds later. "Why don't you just leave if you can't see your girlfriend getting along with her kind, bloodsucker?" The wolf growled and the rest of the people gathered around them, sending hateful glances towards Elijah. There was again this cold, arrogant look on his face, like nothing could defend him. Mila started to believe it. She hadn't seen the full extend of his power yet. The whole area seemed to freeze, the air was filled with violent tension. But Mila could break it by stepping in between the men and placing a hand on Elijah's chest. "Come, train with me, Elijah. It'll make things easier." She send her training partner an apologetic look before taking Elijah's hand and pulling him back into position. An amused smile was on his face and he lifted up a brow. "Are you sure? I'm much more powerful than those...dogs." He got a row of growls in response and Mila rolled her eyes at his behavior. "Thanks, I'm one of those dogs if I remember right." A teasing grin lit up on his face and his dark eyes sparked. "Well, you're certainly a very pretty dog." Mila knew that he was just joking and she had to hold back a laugh, but it was the perfect opportunity to start the fight. She ran to him and again, her arms were quite out of control. Elijah had his arm wrapped around her waist and her back pressed onto his chest in a split second. "You're too impulsive, my love. I can see every move you'll make by just looking at you face." He released her out of his grip after placing a kiss on her hair. How should she improve this? She always had been easy to read. She was an open book, every expression showed her true emotions. With time, she learned to at least control her movements better. Elijah was an awesome teacher. He was calm and collected and she never was afraid that she could get hurt. It felt awesome to train with him. Her movements became more fluent, the wolf inside her parading because she finally could use its strength. The urge to move got more and more satisfied. But still, Elijah blocked her with ease, not a drop of sweat on him. Mila already was out of breath but her ambitious nature kept her going. She walked up to Elijah, looking like she was giving up. Her hands were on his chest to support herself. She leaned in closely, standing on the tips of her toes to reach his face. Elijah leaned down to steal a kiss but right before their lips touched, she finally threw him to ground. She was crouching over him, grinning at him sweetly, her eyes gleaming golden. "I really hope you don't do this to every attacker you cross...but on the other hand, it could work...I think no man would have a chance after looking into this beautiful face." Is this foreplay? Mila heard one of the wolves whispering disgusted and she chuckled.  
He pecked on her lips before jumping up with her. They continued like this for some more time. "A werewolves greatest strength is their bite. It is lethal to vampires. The problem with that is, that you got that perk only in your wolf form, during the full moon. Very predictable so to say. I could change that...in New Orleans. My sister Freya is strong enough to create a special ring for you. You could use your strength fully, even without the full moon." Mila quickly punched into his hands to practice her technique, but rolled her eyes when he mentioned New Orleans.  
"Do you think it would help me with my shifting problem?" She asked curiously. "I don't think so, because your magic is blocking it, that doesn't depend on the full moon. But we could try." Deep in thought she nodded. Her own magic came back to her mind and she felt a tingling sensation in the tips of her fingers. Elijah came closer to her, attacking her. Suddenly, she lifted her hand and with a great force of power he was thrown through the air, sending him into a tree, knocking the air out of his lungs. All eyes where on her, now it was them that fear them and Mila shivered, looking around ashamed. Elijah stood next to her a second after, a proud smile on his face. "Very good. You're starting to get control." "I think we should stop now. I'm exhausted." Elijah nodded and wrapped his arm around her waist. She waved Laura goodbye, knowing that her friend would come visit when Elijah was off to work. Mila was relieved that she would have Laura to speak to. She needed to make a decision she hoped she wouldn't have to make so soon. 


	16. Chapter 16

Later in the evening Laura and Mila sat in front of the TV and ate pizza. A perfect girl's night, it took Mila's mind off all the decisions she had to make a little. "Oh god, why is he just so perfect, Laura? He's a gentleman, he's kind to me, he treats me like a goddess, still he's so...cute. And his million dollar apartment has its perks too. I can't understand it." Mila lay back on the floor after she finished her pizza and rubbed her now aching belly. She stared to the ceiling thoughtfully. Her friend stretched out next to her and looked at the young wolf with worry. "Mila, what's going on? You've been acting strange for the whole day." She shot Laura a glance. How could she know her that well in such a short time of friendship. Another think she can't image to deserve. "I...it's just...he asked me...no...he wants me to go to New Orleans with him. Told me he can protect me better there. His lunatic brother found me and wanted to god know what to me. The target on my back is getting bigger." Laura sighed, her expression turning sad. It made Mila nervous. She had hoped that Laura would tell he to stay independent and live wherever she wanted to. But in werewolf/vampire/witch-world independence and freedom seemed to be defined quite differently. "New Orleans is where you're born. I don't really know much about witchy things, but it's for sure that your power will be at its apex there...but also your werewolf side. You're a Labonair, Mila." Frowning she turned onto her side to look at Laura. No one ever really told her about her true heritage and her name seemed to be a big deal. "But what does that mean, Laura? Everyone always has this strange look on when they hear my name. What is all this fuss about?" Laura shook her head, sometimes she couldn't really believe how little this girl new about herself. She took her face in her hands and looked at her intensely. "Mila, you're a queen, like me. Your family has been royalty for centuries. Your sister left the Crescent pack, since then they wander around in the bayou. They've been banished from their home in New Orleans and hunted in the bayou. So much happened to them and they just wait for someone to lead them. That's your destiny, Mila. That's why you'll go to New Orleans. You won't go so your boyfriend's family can use you, you'll go for your people. Be their queen." Tears flooded both of the women's eyes as both of them knew that they would go separate ways after tonight. Laura was right, she felt it herself. She wasn't supposed to be a minor, a little runt in her huge pack. But she didn't want to believe it. Mila felt so save there, they were becoming a family for her. "But how can I be a queen when I don't really know who I am myself? I'm in love with a vampire, someone they surely loathe. I can't fight, I don't know much about their or even our species history." Overwhelmed by emotions, Mila sat up. She wiped the tears away, but they weren't stopping. This was simply too much for her. "You will learn, Mila. Believe me, the supernaturals in New Orleans have ancient history. Ask Elijah. I don't really know if he remembers himself, but he's a legend there. And you'll find your way to your pack. You can stop pretending like you really feel at home here." Again she was right. Although Mila wanted nothing more than to have her home here and be with Laura's pack, she knew that she didn't really belong there. Something was drawing her elsewhere. Maybe it was New Orleans. The place where she was born. ...  
It had been quiet days between Mila and Elijah since she decided to go with him to New Orleans. Both of them were deeply into their own thoughts. Mila could see how tormented Elijah was. He wasn't happy with it, she knew that. The Original didn't want to go back there, too much history was buried there and he was afraid of his own memory. He didn't want them to come back, he lived better since they were gone. But he had no choice. Mila was safest there. Still there was so much out in the open, so many enemies, so much danger for a girl like her. To be honest Elijah feared his own family the most. He wasn't sure what they would do to her. Klaus had stayed away since their encounter, which was a wise choice. Elijah would rip him to shreds if he touched Mila again. Elijah's car wasn't filled with belongings and personal stuff. It was nearly empty, just two suitcases were in the trunk. They both didn't have many precious things. Just some clothing and the edition of Gray's Anatomy Elijah gifted Mila. Most importantly they had each other, even though they weren't much of a help for their problems right now. Still it was good to know that someone was there. Mila feared two things the most right now. First, meeting her twin sister for the first time. For sure she would stick around, this was about her family and she would do everything she could to reunite them.  
Second, Mila had the lingering feeling that going to New Orleans was the beginning of the end of her relationship with Elijah. She already felt that he was drifting away from her. It was because he feared that he would become someone else if they forced him to get his memory back. What would happen if he really would become this person? The old Elijah? Would they still love each other? So many questions to be answered. But Mila wasn't ready to face them yet. She took one last glance into the beautiful apartment. Mila would miss it. The apartment, Laura, her work, everything. No one would notice that she wouldn't come to work anymore. They all would just notice that their chief of surgery suddenly left. Together with her. But still, she would miss the patients, the OR, even the bad food of the cafeteria. Especially now that she didn't know if she ever would work as a doctor again. Silently they got into the car and Elijah started the engine. He looked at her with pain in his eyes. Of course he felt sorry for ripping her from her life. He felt so guilty. But it didn't help right now. Elijah sighed and turned to look on the street, but Mila placed her hand on his on the stirring wheel. "Can we stop at a certain place. I need to make some more goodbyes." He nodded and lightly squeezed her hand before driving down New York's busy streets. Mila rested her head against the window and closed her eyes to hold the tears back. She definitely would miss the city that was meant to be her start over. ...  
But those weren't the last tears she would shed on this day. Mila stood in a graveyard, Elijah some feet behind her, watching her but giving her some space. She was thankful for that. The young doctor knew that he was looking around alarmed, knowing that this was a dangerous place to be for her. A place where enemies would expect her. She was home. Where it all began. At place where her innocence was destroyed forever. But also the place where she spent a lovely and happy childhood. But now it only reminded her of her parent's death. Mila looked down to the small gravestone. Bending down, she stroked over the engraved names. She couldn't afford to be creative with the gravestone and to be honest she didn't care at that time. Mila had cared for her parents, she loved them beyond everything while they lived. But they were dead now, a stupid gravestone was the least of their problems. Even of they could see in this freaked out new world, they couldn't care less, too. For them, it was important to be good to the living. Their friends seemed to stop caring, too. No flowers were on the dirt in front of the stone. Only rotten roses were the last remembrance of their funeral. Mila placed the white rose on the stone. She wouldn't be able to visit the grave any time soon. But it was ok. She just wanted to say goodbye with her right mind. Because when she left, she was head over heels, she hated everything and everyone. At some point she even blamed her parents. But now everything was different. She had found out things she wasn't sure they knew of. Mila changed a lot and it was good for her and, of course, she met Elijah. The man the helped her through it. Even if they were going through another change now, she would never forget that. A new stream of tears fell down her pale cheeks, which she found so pathetic. But she couldn't stop herself from it. Elijah stepped closer to her, she felt his breath in her neck and for a second, she forgot the situation around her and turned around and simply hugged him, buried her face in his chest. Thankfully, he wrapped his arms around her torso and pulled her close, stroking back which helped her a little. When the tears dried off, she lifted her face and their lips immediately met. He kissed her gently and helped her taking her mind off the horrible things on their heels. It showed her that she meant everything for him and also that this was the reason why he was acting so strange since New Orleans was in the play. He simply was too afraid of loosing her. "You think your brother caused the explosion, don't you?" She caressed his cheeks when he looked down ashamed. "I'm sure of it. I'll make him pay for this, Mila." Mila sighed, now it was her that glanced away. "No, you don't. If we want to have a chance in New Orleans, we need to get along with your family." He took her hand from his face but still held it as he began walking away from the grave. "Mila, they caused me nothing than pain. Even if I don't remember it, they are not good of us. They'll try to use you. The only thing I could do is trying to protect you from them." She nodded. This would be pretty hard if they had to live in the same house. Because Mila was sure they would expect that she would be always close, so Klaus could see his daughter. She could understand that. But it would destroy the last pieces of freedom she had. "...But you don't know what will happen if you get your memories back. You're afraid that you'll do everything to destroy the Hallow. Which surely would lead to my death." Again Elijah looked down. It tormented him to not really know who he was. How he would react. "Do you want your memories back?" Mila stopped and locked eyes with him. She wanted no more changing of topics when they spoke about it. Tonight, she wanted a clear answer.  
"No, I don't." He couldn't. It would destroy him, he was sure of that. And he had everything he wanted right in front of him. It only could get worse. Elijah didn't want to be a monster anymore. He wanted to be the man that the beautiful, loving, compassionate Mila Labonair fell in love with. "Well then, let's not let that happen." 


	17. Chapter 17

New Orleans.

The city at the shores of Mississippi that kept so much history and secrets. Literally. For Mila it was a drive into the unknown. She didn't know of the history this city had with the Mikaelsons. Mila had no clue who this family was deeply connected to the Quarter, especially Elijah. He himself didn't know.

To be honest she was more than frightened. Afraid to meet her twin sister and the violent bunch of her boyfriend's family. But there was also this pack Laura told her about. She had no clue if she should follow her advice to go and join the crescents.

Right now it wasn't an option. She knew that Klaus wouldn't let her go far if she had to be close if he wanted to see his daughter. Mila understood that, but being the prisoner of the deadliest family the world has ever seen wasn't what she imagined her future to be.

But she had no choice. The other options weren't better. Without their protection she would be caught by the Hallow's lackeys and be the host of some ancient spirit that would takeover her body and kill her personality.

"How do you feel? Laura told me you have a lot of history with the city."

She asked while she saw the huge buildings of downtown New Orleans flew by.

"I don't feel anything at all."

Elijah said short cut. Mila could feel that he was nervous. That wasn't a good sign. She never had seen him nervous before. He was the role model for a calm man. But what bothered her more was his cold voice. Elijah told her that he didn't want his memories back, but over time Mila wondered if this was the best for him. She fell in love with him the way he was now, but sometimes, in situations like these when they discovered from his past, it seemed like a big part of him was missing. Mila figured that he had been a whole different person before, she had seen in his mind what he was capable of. And she was afraid of this man.

"How do you feel about meeting your sister for the first time soon?"

He stopped the car at a red light and looked at her. Elijah felt guilty for bringing her here. It was the only place where he could protect her, but at the same time he was afraid that he could change back into a person that would be a threat for her, someone that couldn't protect her. He himself only knew of the tales of the man he was from other person. Elijah hadn't seen his family for eight years now, but since Marcel compelled him to forget him, they weren't his family anymore.

"I wish I wouldn't feel anything, too. But I'm afraid to meet her. I'm afraid that we won't get along. What if she'll hate me?"

The Original grabbed her hand and squeezed her hand which lit her expression a bit up. His touch always remembered her of this lovely, amazing time they spent together. Those were the best weeks of her life. She felt so loved.

"It's good to feel, Mila. You're still human, I'm not. I'm a thousand years old and over the time I lost the capacity to show emotions. Being away from them and meeting you helped me get that back. And Mila, no one could hate you. You're just too lovely for that. Everyone that knows you is a lucky person."

He pushed a strand of hair behind her ear and Mila closed her eyes. The rest of the drive went on silently. Mila's nervousness came to its apex when he held in front of a very old building in the middle of the French Quarter. It must be the place where he and his family lived.

Elijah turned to face her and cupped her cheeks with his hands.

"Mila, whatever happens in there, just know I'm beside you. I'll protect you. But just know, you're so strong yourself. Your magic is unbelievingly strong, especially here. Even if I'm not able to protect you...you will."

She looked deeply into his sad eyes and then leaned forward to kiss him passionately. Her lips met his hungrily, hoping that this moment would never end. Their kind of carefree time in New York was over. They had to face giant like obstacles and Mila feared that they would break because of it. Elijah held her close for one last moment before they both got out of the car.

Mila could immediately feel all the power this ground inherited and was a overwhelmed by it. She took a deep breath in and caught a worried glance from Elijah. He had been right, her power here wasn't compatible to the one she had in New York. This was her birthplace and her magic felt home here, even if Mila didn't. She could explore so much more here, her power seemed endless here.

She sighed whence realized that she already felt the first changes right after she set foot here. Even if it felt good for now, she knew everything would come with a prize. Grabbing Elijah's hand and intervening their fingers, she nodded and started walking inside the compound.

"Klaus...something is coming."

They could hear a female voice echoing through the old walls. Awesome, Klaus was already here. That could only mean trouble.

Grace looked up to Elijah, but he looked straight forward, squeezing her hand to tell her that she was safe. His whole body was under tension, ready to fight.

The couple reached the open entrance hall of the compound. Usually Mila would've admired the beautiful building more closely, but she was too distracted by that.

"Elijah."

The blonde woman in that stood in the middle together with Klaus whispered. Both Klaus and her gaze were fixed on Mila's boyfriend. A smile spread on the woman's face, Mila assumed it to be one of his sisters, and ran towards him and slung her arms around the Original.

But Elijah's face stayed emotionless and he didn't hug her back. He lightly pushed her away and a shocked and hurt expression came to her face. Then realization hit her. She must've forgotten that things weren't the way they used to be for a second and she let her emotion overwhelm her.

The girl shook her head and she seemed to notice Mila. A sad smile came to her features and Mila tried to return it but failed miserably.

"You must be Mila. I'm Freya, Elijah's...sister."

Freya looked at her with curiosity. She seemed to feel her power, but politely she rested from bombarding her with questions.

"Nice to meet you. Has Klaus filled you up on everything?"

"...Yes, he has. I was just coming to the point whether to hand you over or to keep you."

Klaus answered before his sister could open his mouth. He stepped towards Mila and suddenly the already tensed atmosphere seemed to explode. Elijah saw Klaus' words as a threat. Black veins around his eyes appeared and he pushed Mila behind him.

The hurt expression that Mila had just seen on Freya was now on Klaus' face. When she took a look into Elijah's memory she saw that the brothers had been through a lot, their bond must've been quite close.

"You will not touch her."

Elijah's words were cold as ice.

"I want to see my daughter, Elijah. Whatever it takes. I don't know if her powers will work on Hope, too, we have to try."

Klaus almost said it with pity, which enraged Mila's temper, but also Elijah's. He shook his head unbelievingly.

"Can you imagine that the whole world doesn't revolves around you, Niklaus? Mila is no human guinea pig. She deserves a life, too."

The Original held took the werewolves' hand. Klaus looked at their connected hands with the disgust and now Mila understood. Their relationship stood in Klaus' way. If she wouldn't have been Elijah's girlfriend, she would've been dead or handed over by now. But he felt remorse. It was a line he wouldn't cross freely, but he would if it came to his daughter.

"You have no clue, Elijah. You can't remember how you feel towards my daughter. Eight years ago you would've done the same."

The desperation in Klaus was obvious. He wanted his family back, it was understandable. Seeing Elijah like that, as his opponent in the case was the greatest pain Klaus ever felt apart from giving away his daughter.

"Then I was no better than the Hallow is. I'm not that kind of monster anymore."

Steps were heard from behind them and everyone turned around. A woman looking a bit younger than Mila came in. She resembled Mila in a strange way, but it made her figuring out who she was immediately. Next to her was a girl, around twelve years of age, that definitely was Klaus' daughter. They looked so alike.

"What the hell is going on here?"

She stopped and looked around and her eyes went wide when she saw Elijah and Klaus that close together. Immediately she grabbed her daughter by the wrist and was on her way to disappear again.

"No, Hayley, stop! She can be close to us, I'll explain."

Klaus yelled and stood in front of his daughter all of a sudden. For a long moment there was silence, everyone staring at Hope and Klaus. Hayley's expression was wary, ready to run.

„Daddy!"

Tears flooded the girls eyes and she hugged her father tightly. Klaus expression broke Mila's heart, she had to admit. There was a mixture of fear, pain, joy and happiness on him that the young werewolf never had believed to be possible on the hybrid's face. He loved his little girl with all of his heart.

Everyone relaxed when they saw that nothing seemed to happen. No attacks, no evil spirit lurking around and trying to take over Hope's body. And it was all thanks to Mila. But no one really seemed to believe that.

"How is this possible?" Hayley, her twin sister, didn't even seem to notice Mila. Her voice was quiet, nearly broken. But instead of keeping the harmony between the family members a huge argument broke out. Klaus was on his way to plan locking Mila up, while Elijah hissed threats towards his brother. Freya tried to keep them from ripping each other to shreds, while Hayley was surely on Klaus' side.

"Who is she anyway?"

"I had no clue how much power she has!"

"We need to lock her up someplace safe!"

"What distance do you think can her catalyzing power cover?"

"She's not your pet!"

"You need to get your memories back, Elijah!"

"We still need to get the Hallow out of you!"

"Maybe we can take her power and transfer it to something else."

Their words, their yelling and screaming started a burning headache in Mila. He hands clenched into fists as she tried to keep her temper under control. Being a werewolf wasn't helping. But there was so much anger, towards all of them. Even Elijah. He was speaking for her, he didn't leave her a choice to speak up for herself. They were all talking as if she was some kind of puppet, something they could use until she wouldn't be of use anymore.

All of these emotions and the pain combined in her head an came to it's apex.

"Stop!"

Mila screamed and suddenly, the rails that were clipped to the balconies of facing them were on fire. Lamps splattered into pieces and fell down on them. Now she had their attention. The only one that wasn't looking at her shocked was Hope, she even had a small smile on her. But Mila's gaze was fixed on her sister. Emotions burned in the werewolves eyes, one of them was disgust. This was an awesome first meeting for two siblings, Hayley didn't even seemed to feel some bond. But Mila did. She had felt it the moment she had laid eyes on the hybrid.

"I'm your twin sister by the way."

Mila shook her head sadly, the anger fading away. Pain and numbness was all that was left. She couldn't face any of them anymore. Hayley was speechless and tried to find words, but Mila couldn't bear her apologies for now. Turning on her heel, she wanted to walk back into the city when it came to her mind that the Mikaelsons couldn't be near each other when she wasn't close. So she ran up the stairs and into the first room she could find. Luckily it was a study and not someones bedroom. She fell onto the comfortable looking sofa and tried to make the world disappear. It was enough reality for one day. 


	18. Chapter 18

"Sometimes they just forget that there are other people than themselves on the planet when they fight, huh?"

A voice came up from behind Mila and she turned around startled. In front of her was a beautiful woman she had never seen before. But still Mila could feel what she was, her sensitive senses had found immediately that she also was a wolf. It kind of relaxed Mila.

"Who are you?"

The woman smiled kindly. Mila just lifted a brow, not sure if she should trust anyone here.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't want to scare you. I'm Keelin, Freya's girlfriend. I kind of involuntary eavesdropped on what happened down there and just wanted to tell them that it's just their families thing...8 years apart and they still quarrel like it was yesterday that they were driven apart. You belong to Elijah, don't you?"

Nodding, Mila took a deep breath and shook Keelin's outstretched hand. Afterwards, she sat back down on the sofa and took a look around the impressive library. She could imagine Elijah spending a lot of time here.

"Have you known them before everything happened?"  
The other wolf took a seat next to Mila and sighed.

"Yes, I met Hayley when she looked for cure for Marcel Gerards poison. Then, in captivity, I met Freya."

She laughed and Mila couldn't help but chuckle. Seems she had a similar twisted mind like Mila had.

"...Nothing could break this family apart, I tell you. The only thing that could was themselves and it happened. They did it protect Hope. It broke Freya, it took her long to recover. I think you know the story of Elijah loosing his memory of their love for them and so on. How did you got intervened into all this, aside from choosing the wrong boyfriend?"

The wrong boyfriend...Usually Mila would've taken this for as an insult, but coming from Keelin's mouth, someone who knew him before he lost his memory and was into how this family worked, it tasted pretty bitter for her. It was strange that Mila seemed to be the only one here who didn't claim to really know Elijah. But as more as she heard he, she was sure that his own family didn't really know who he was.

"I'm Hayley's twin sister. Nobody knew of it, not even me...I seem to be a werewolf/witch hybrid, but I only found out some weeks ago...so it kind of still feels strange to me. Before I was just an eager young doctor, in the middle of residency..."

Curiosity lit up in Keelin's features.

"You're a doctor? I am, too. I work as an trauma surgeon at the local hospital."

Mila smiled widely in surprise. She was the first one to seem interested in the person who she was, not the fact that she was Hayley's twin.

"Oh god, it may sound odd, but it's so good that someone's here that I can talk to outside of all those supernatural-topics...In the beginning I had that with Elijah, too, but it kinda got lost when I triggered my gene."

Keelin laughed, but suddenly stopped, thinking.

"Wait, Elijah's a doctor, too?"

"Yeah, he was my chief of surgery. I was the one that fell in love with the boss."

A slight smile tugged on Mila's lips when she thought back to those carefree times in the hospital, when she fell in love with Elijah. It seemed so long ago now.

"Wow, I didn't know. Well, probably in a thousand years of lifetime, you can study every subject possible."  
Mila stood up and examined the shelves full of books. They were neatly ordered, but she felt drawn to a specific section. Her hands touched the back of very old, leather bound books. She pulled one out and carefully caressed the leather. Those must be grimoires.

"What kind of person was he before they split apart? I saw a lot in his memories, but they were all without any emotion."

Keelin swallowed and leaned back, thinking about what she should tell Mila. She didn't want to cause trouble in their relationship, but she figured it was already too late for that.

"Well, he's an Original. They're all legends, they have their reputation...a quite violent one. Elijah was always considered the noble one, he always kept his word, but when it came to his family, he wasn't shy of getting his hands dirty himself. Some people even thought of him as the most dangerous one, because you could never predict when he would stay calm and negotiate...or instantly chop someones head off. He called it 'the red door', but you should ask him about that yourself. That's way too personal. But he always was kind to me. He accepted me into the family instantly. Well, we never were that close, but I always knew that Elijah never would harm me, because he loves his family so damn much. It hurts even me seeing that changed."

The younger wolf nodded with a light smile. It was so strange hearing that he was such a completely different person before. But also it led to the inevitable question: would she love this person, too?

Even if Mila tried to suppress the thought, but she was sure that one way or another his family would force him to get his memory back.  
Keeling seemed to notice her sad expression and gently squeezed her shoulder.

"Hey, heads up. You'll get used to this crazy family...but at first I think you should go back and really meet your sister."

Mila nodded and got up, quickly wiping the dried off tears away. She must look like a mess but she didn't really cared. Nodding Keelin goodbye, she walked out of the room only do find the compound empty, but with her new enhanced hearing, she could make out Elijah's voice from another room. He was talking to someone. Hayley, she mused.

She didn't want to eavesdrop on the conversation but she had her new senses not really under control...and they were speaking with raised voices, deep into conversation.

"Elijah, I know you can't remember what we had but...nothing has changed for me. I miss you. I missed you so much."

Her voice faded in tears. It was the moment when Mila stepped into the room, speechless. Hayley stood close in front of Elijah, tears fell down her cheeks, her shoulders were sunken down. Elijah was the complete opposite. He seemed calm, distant. But the look they shared was obvious. They had been together. Not just together, they had loved each other. And Mila's sister still had feelings for him.

They heard her coming in and their heads turned to face her. Both of them had the equal expression of horror and shock on their faces. Hayley seemed to cry even more and usually Mila would've, too, but she had process what she had just heard.

Elijah hadn't told her that he had been with her sister. She understood why, but it didn't make it any better. It ruined everything. This would ruin her relationship with Elijah and it made her hate her own sister. She hated her for loving her boyfriend before they even got to know each other.

"Mila..."

Elijah stepped towards her, but Mila only lifted her hand to stop him. She couldn't talk to him right now, she couldn't even see him. Turning around, she ran out of the room, only to be confronted again by the question where she should go.

The sadness now hit her and she fell to her knees, crying again. Elijah stepped behind her, not sure what to do. He knew that he had hurt her deeply with that and he had no clue whether he should take her into his arms or leave her alone.

"I never should've come here."

Getting up on her feet again, she turned around to Elijah. She didn't want to show her weakness towards him.

"I think you're right."

He said sighing and looked at her ashamed. Elijah had made sure that she didn't see that part of his story in his memory and since then, he didn't find the moment to tell her. She had been so happy with him and he didn't was so keen on ruining it because of a love he couldn't even remember.

"You were in love with my sister and you didn't even bother to tell me. Have you thought I would never find out?"

The Original shook his head and reached out for her, but she brushed his hands off. Mila was so upset, she started to feel sick. But she wouldn't embarrass herself to the point that she would puke onto his expansive shoes.

"I wanted to tell you but...I never expected that Hayley would still have feelings for me. But I don't love her anymore, Mila. I'm with you. Please, it doesn't change anything."

She let out a bitter laugh.

"It does change everything, Elijah! I can't even look at you, I feel so disgusted. And concerning Hayley...I actually wanted to get to know her and now she stands in front of you and spills the beans about her eternal love to you...This woman, that is immortal, a true queen and much more beautiful than plain old Mila. I'm boring, I'm that small town girl that doesn't fit in your world of elegant, rich vampires."

Elijah shook his head and grabbed her by the shoulders and let her hit his chest in order to free herself. But he didn't let go. He held her and let her rage escape. Now he knew what she needed. She wanted him to be there, even if she couldn't look him in the eyes right now.

"That's not my world anymore, Mila. But I'm part of yours. Those weeks with you...I had a thousand years of lifetime but this time with you...It was the best of my life."

Suddenly she stopped struggling and looked him directly into the eyes. For a second he believed that it would all be fine, but then again the anger and sadness took over her and she looked away.

"Please show me a room where I can stay in. Seems like no one will allow me to leave, right?"

Sighing, he let go of her and walked up the stairs to show her one of the empty bedrooms with a defeated expression. It felt like the beginning of the end. 


	19. Chapter 19

In the morning, after a nearly sleepless night, Mila started to unpack her things. It wasn't much, just some personal things and some clothes, but time seemed to drag. She didn't want to make herself a home here, maybe that was why.

At least Elijah hadn't dared to cross her this morning. Mila was in a particularly bad mood and with her powers going all over the place, it wouldn't have been good for anyone.

While unpacking, she stumbled across the first edition of Gray's Anatomy Elijah gifted her. She sighed and clutched it close to her chest. Mila already missed working...and the part of her boyfriend that stayed back in New York. This city...his home...it was changing him.

"Mila?"

A quiet voice spoke from outside the door. She had let it open a bit, because she enjoyed the sun coming through the open roof of the compound. Actually the house was pretty nice, under other circumstances, she would've admired it.

"Yes?"

She already knew it was Hayley. Mila had already assumed that she would show up. Cleaning off the dust of her jeans, the wolf stood up to face her twin sister. Of course she didn't look exhausted with deep blue rings under her eyes, like Mila. She had this 'glow' all vampires seemed to have. Hayley looked god damn beautiful, fresh like she had just had a nice nap after a spa day. Jealousy built up in Mila.

"I...um...wanted to talk to you."

Mila just shook her head and continued unpacking. She really had the guts to do this after what happened yesterday. Her own twin sister was in love with Elijah and now she wanted to bond?

"Oh, I don't see any sense in talking. Because first, if I'm being honest, I want to rip you to shreds. Second, I'm just keeping myself from it because you seem to be my sister and mother of my niece and third, you really made a bad first impression."

She snapped and the hybrid lowered her gaze. At least she felt ashamed. Good. But a little pain was stinging in Mila's heart. That wasn't her. She never acted mean. Was this the famous werewolf-temper.

"I'm sorry, Mila. I...I promise I keep away from Elijah."

It was clear how hard this was to her. But to be honest Mila couldn't feel any pity. Just pity that she had such a bad start with her own sister.

"Come on, this isn't about Elijah. Of course I'm beyond mad because you f...um, loved my boyfriend but I believe that this isn't a topic anymore, at least from his side...You know when Elijah told me you existed, I felt joy. I was scared like hell, but I hoped that I would get some kind of a family. That you, your daughter and I would have some kind of bond. But that seemed to be an illusion."

She stepped forward and looked at Mila with an apologetic and serious look.

"Mila, I was upset yesterday...it's been 5 years. I lost them before...but then I had a mission, I could do something to get them back together...but now, I was useless. All I could do is be there for my daughter and that I did, but I failed in saving her family. She grew up without a father, Mila. I saw her being taken over by some mystical spirit and yesterday...it was too much."

The young doctor again shook her head, giving up on trying to distract herself.

"Hayley, I understand and you don't know how sorry I felt that you didn't get to grow up the way I did and that you had so much responsibility on your shoulders for all this time, but that's not what I meant. We're twins, Hayley. I felt the bond between us, I recognized you without even seeing you for once before. But you didn't. I'm not your family Hayley, let's not try to pretend something else. Please, make this easier for both of us and try to get along. But nothing more. I didn't want to get to know you better, no sister bonding, no forced trying to have a good relationship. Deal?"

Her sister looked at her for long, obviously hurt by her words. But Mila was right. Hayley hadn't felt a bit when she had seen Mila. For her, she was just a stranger and it would just hurt both of them even more if they tried to force it.

She nodded and Mila sighed. Hope broke inside her heart. A tiny little part of her had hoped to get a real sister. But that surely wasn't Hayley. The hybrid also sighed and strutted out of Mila's room with her arms crossed in front of her chest.

Later, the emptiness and all this free time was already driving Mila crazy. She had no idea how to be productive, the books didn't distract her for long enough. The only task she had was avoiding the whole Mikaelson family, including Elijah, which wasn't as easy as it sounded.

Fortunately, Klaus and Hayley seemed to have gone out, so Mila took her time to explore the compound a bit. It looked very old, but they spend time and money to keep it as modern as possible in a vintage way. The bathrooms were exquisite, the newest models of TV's stood in the living rooms. In one of them, she found Freya and Keelin, giggling and kissing. Quickly, Mila stepped back to not disturb them and smiled. These two were so cute. Carefree, among alls this horror. Mila was jealous, it was something Elijah and she didn't have. For a short amount of time, they were happy, but their slowly growing love couldn't withstand the threats they were facing. It drove them apart.

Sighing, she continued on her way. She frowned when she heard a piano playing from a room not that far away. 'Una mattina'. Of course, he had heard her walking around. Since he played that in this bar, it had been their song. It was the most heart warming apology she had ever heard.

Walking into the room, she saw him sitting behind the massive piano. Their eyes immediately met and his dark brown depths showed her this kind of emotion she had never seen on him before. He loved her, it was obvious. It was that look that made her forgive him.

Mila walked up to him and Elijah abruptly stopped playing. She sat on his lap and he grabbed her hips before they passionately kissed each other. The kiss grew more and more heated by the second, none of them could break free or talk.

His hands rubbed up and down her back and Mila's smaller ones tugged on his shirt. The piano made a horrible sound when he grabbed her and sat her on the keys. She giggled, but he muted the sound with his lips. He was serious about it. Elijah grabbed the hem of her shirt and pulled it over her head. The cool air caressed her skin and she bend her head back to expose her throat. His lips immediately kissed and nibbled on the sensitive skin to which she let out a moan. For a second she thought about if he would bite her with his teeth that close to her coronal artery. But those thoughts were quickly dismissed when he leaned back to free himself of his shirt. She stared at his naked skin and her hands explored the muscles that tensed and relaxed under her touch. Then, his hands went behind her back to expertly unclasp her bra and remove it.

Elijah's kisses went deeper, but just when he explored the valley between her breasts he stopped and lifted his head, sighing. Mila looked at him longingly and grabbed the back of his head to pull him closer again, but he gently stopped her and shook his head.

"I'm sorry...there's a matter I need to attend to."

He looked very angry, his pupils were still dilated because he wanted her so much. After another sigh, he spared a last glance at her half naked body and kissed her on her lips shortly before he walked out of the room while putting his t-shirt back on.

Mila had to catch her breath for a while, before she noticed that she her whole upper body was exposed and that there were probably too many people in this house. She hopped off the piano and quickly put on her clothing, feeling that her body was aching disappointedly. The couple had waited long for this to happen and now they were interrupted. Mila had been ready, but probably someone who needed Elijah's immediate attention ruined it.

She was ripped put of her thoughts when she heard rumbling from downstairs. The young werewolf rushed to the railing and looked down to see a scene unfolding. A man with dark skin stood in front of Elijah, while Klaus and Hayley held him by his shoulders as he struggled against their grip. Another man stood behind him and held his hands up, mumbling some words.

"I made you forget your vow. Now I want you to remember everything."

The person in front of Elijah spoke.

"No!"

Both Mila and Elijah yelled in unison. All their eyes adverted up to where Mila stood. She growled and jumped over the railing, landing softly on her feet with a thud after two floors down. Walking towards them, she spoke a spell and got to make Klaus and Hayley fly into the walls with ease. She looked at the man who wanted to bring back Elijah's memory and focused on him. He suddenly screamed in pain and went to his knees.

From the corner of the eye she saw that Freya and the other witch now stood close together and raised their hands to fight Mila's magic, but they underestimated her. She was strong enough to fight back, but it distracted her long enough for the guy, probably this Marcel-person, to get back to a still weakened Elijah and repeat his words.

Mila ran towards them, but she was too late. When she reached Elijah, she got hold of his shoulders, but when she met his eyes, she knew that something had changed. At first, he simply seemed confused, but then there was something in him, that made her barely recognize him. He was shattered from the inside, his eyes were dark and cold when he looked at her. The love he carried for her was still there, but it seemed so far away. His gaze lifted and he looked at his siblings and also the way he looked at them turned to the opposite. He only had eyes for them now.

"Elijah, please..."

She mumbled, but he pushed her away slightly. Everyone stared at them in silence. Elijah's eyes looked down to her again, but now there was something else. A darkness that was consuming him, a lust for her blood that he couldn't overcome. The Hollow screamed inside him and it commanded him to feed off her.


	20. Chapter 20

Elijah looked at Mila and forgot everything around him. He had only eyes for her. But not in the way he had before. When the memories crush onto him, so did the raging voice of the Hollow. He was too out of his mind to not obey. The smell of her blood was overwhelming, every dark desire in him wanted to take his life.

Mila's eyes widened when she saw it in Elijah's gaze. The thirst, the lust for her blood. But his movements where to fast to be caught by her eyes. All of a sudden, he stood in front of her and pushed her against the hard stone wall and sunk his teeth into her neck.

She screamed for help, but his family around them seemed to be too deep in shock to even attempt to help her. Mila had always known that Elijah was strong, but until now she had no clue of the impact of his strength. His grip closet break some important bones. She kicked and begged for him to stop, but her voice didn't seem to come through to him.

That's what she heard among the other werewolves back in New York. The Red Door. His dark side, the ruthless killer came to surface and Mila was his prey.

It felt like hours, but it only took seconds. Her magic took over her body and suddenly, Elijah was gone. A wave of power had pushed him away so he flew into the wall opposite. A loud beeping noise was in her ears so she couldn't hear the yells of Hayley and Freya and now she felt a own certain darkness swell inside her.

She walked towards Elijah, who also still hadn't snapped out of his delirium and attempted to attack her again. But now Mila stood her ground and with the wave of her hand she gave him multiple aneurysms, so he fell to the ground screaming in pain. Even when he seemed to come back from his trance, Mila continued.

"Mila! Mila, listen to me!"

It took some time until she even noticed that her twin sister stood in front of her and shook her by her shoulders. It made her snap out of what she was doing an released Elijah from the pain. Only then she felt the pain in her neck and instinctively she touched it with her hand and saw blood smeared onto it when she withdrew it.

Her gaze flickered between Hayley, her hands and Elijah, who looked at her in shock. Slowly realization crept onto the Originals' face. But before he could say anything, Mila shook her head.

"No, no...don't say anything. Hayley, get your daughter outta here, I need some air..."

They tried to stop her, but when she raised her hand, they all flinched backwards, afraid that she would act on them like she did to Elijah. Pain spread inside her heart. No one had ever been afraid of her and now her own sister, her boyfriend and is family were. Mila then realized that she was a time bomb, ready to explode at every moment.

Tears ran down her cheeks when she ran out of the compound, directly onto Bourbon street. Her grotesque shape drew attention towards her. A girl, surely running from something, blood smeared all over her neck and shoulder, crying like hell.

She was stopped when she reached the shores of the Mississippi. Panting, she looked down to the grayish water and slowly, she calmed. The pain on her neck was gone and when she checked on the wound, she noticed that it was already healing. Well, werewolf healing had it's perks; no stitches necessary for her.

Mila had lost track of time when she heard footsteps approaching from behind her. She knew it was Elijah, she could feel it. Her powers were spreading, she could sense who or what the person was that was close to her.

"Mila."

He stepped beside her, so he was too leaning on the railing. Both stared out onto the river, avoiding to say anything in particular.

"Elijah."

She responded, giving him back the responsibility to actually start a conversation. To be honest, she knew what she should say, but she couldn't do it right now. Silence erupted, both of them trying to find the right words. It seemed like they would stand here forever, but Mila hadn't got forever in contrary to Elijah, so she side glanced at him and said the most irrelevant thing that came to her mind.

"You're wearing a suit. Is this implying anything?"

On the side, Mila noticed how much it suited him. He was that person that could wear a suit, his whole character implied it. He moved with an elegance that only someone from another time could have. But now Mila was very sure that she did not know the person that stood right in front of her. The man that she had kissed so often, that she fell in love with was probably gone forever.

In contrary to anyone except for her, she didn't know that his suit was kind of his trademark. She was the only one that didn't knew the person before the memory loss. Mila wondered which personality was the true Elijah.

"It's an old habit of mine."

He played with the button of his blazer, when he thought about what else to say.

"...Mila, I can't express how sorry I am. I can't explain what happened because I don't really know what it was."

She shook her head and she hid all those emotions. Another thing she had learnt recently; she usually couldn't hide anything from her face, but now she was force to. While being with those people, it was essential that not everyone could read her like an open book.

"But I do. This thing you carry inside you...I can feel it lurking. It's not entirely sure whether to kill me or not. When your memories came back, the Hollow also did. It's not your fault actually."

Mila could feel the presence of the ancient ghost. Elijah probably tried his best to resist it now. It must be very hard to even stand beside her.

"I tried to kill you, Mila. It's unforgivable."

He sighed, but shifted his gaze to her. Those eyes...they were still those beautiful, warm chocolate depths. They still looked at her caring, but something was missing. She couldn't exactly point out what, but his feelings towards her definitely must've changed. For him, she wasn't priority number one anymore. His family was. That was the whole danger in the topic.

"Did I say that I forgive you? Because I honestly don't. Damn, you could've killed me, Elijah! But that's not what's bothering me. Yesterday, you would've done anything in your power to protect me. But now, your doing what's best for your family, right? Like you did for a thousand years. It's ok until the point that the needs of your family and me differ."

She knew that she was being selfish. But Mila had been the one that made him happy when everything changed for him, when his whole personality was gone. His family wasn't.

Elijah didn't say anything anymore, which made Mila know that she was completely right with what she assumed. Of course he still cared for her, but it was not enough.

"Elijah, I can't do that. I mean, I understand, I really do, family above all and so on. But that's nothing I can count on. Because I'm not your family, Elijah. I'm your girlfriend, who, by the way, is something your family sees as a freakin' old-spirit-time-out-zone. Honestly, I'm screwed. I can't trust you anymore. To be honest I'm the only one who get's nothing out of this whole situation. My life is over, Elijah. Because of your own family and you won't do anything about it!"

He was still very quiet and it was starting to annoy Mila. She wanted to just turn around ago, but he grabbed her hand and squeezed it. Mila shot him a glare and freed herself from his touch, which hurt him even more.

For a Elijah all this felt like an ice cold hand was squeezing his heart until it bled. He really wanted to prove Mila wrong, but he couldn't. She was completely right with what she said. When his memories came back, it was like nothing had ever changed. His greatest mission was not to get Mila out of this alive anymore. Of course, he wanted her to live and he wanted to be with her, but seeing Klaus apart from his daughter was out of option, too. And those was something that was probably two things that couldn't go together, especially now that the greatest danger for the girl he was in love with was Elijah himself.

"So, it's over."

He couldn't really decide if it was a question or a statement. By the thought of loosing her, the pain spread even more. Another weight added to his shoulders. It was too much. He was so close to break under this weight, something he hadn't felt in five years.

But still, now that he remembered his vow, he didn't want to go back to the memory less state he had to admit. He loved his family above all and the though of loosing them was as much painful as the thought of loosing Mila.

"I know it's not fair. You have to decide, Elijah."

Mila felt so guilty for making him choose and she knew that it wouldn't end in her favor. Those damn tears again wetted her cheeks, she could barely look at the man in front of her. But she forced herself to look him in the eyes.

Actually, it was fair, Elijah thought. Since she met his family, she had been confronted with nothing but torture. So it was completely right for her to ask him to the decide.

But now, as the Elijah Mikaelson that lived for a thousand years only to find his families' redemption, the choice was hard, but still it was clear.

Elijah couldn't say it, he just stared into those blue eyes that he cherished so much. The cold mask of hers had vanished and he could look right through her.

He loved her.

Which meant that he also had to protect her from herself. A single tear ran over his cheek when he had to accept that their relationship would end.

"That's what I thought."

Her voice was husky of tears, but she at least had the strength to turn around and walk away from him.

Birthday update! And what a depressive one :( Sorry for the short chapters right now, but I think there'll be quite more action in the next few ;)


	21. Chapter 21

Mila couldn't really recognize herself some days after she broke up with Elijah. Since then, she was broken. Her confidence had faded into thin air. She barely talked to anyone, which differed from her usually talkative personality.

Most of the time she locked herself into her room, reading as much as she could sneak out from the huge library the compound contained. But maybe that was the whole point. Nothing that was here was truly hers - it belonged to the Mikaelsons. The books, the food, damn, even the bed she slept in. She lived by their favor and because she had recently been turned into a damsel in distress, she had to endure it.

But she quickly bought some of her freedom back. At least the part that was of Klaus' interest. Together with Freya and the help of Keelin, who were the cutest couple Mila had ever seen and seemed to be the nicest persons in the house, they had created a spell to channel some of Mila's catalyzing power inside a talisman. It was a little pendant they gave Hope to wear, so she could walk around and travel wherever they wanted and the family could still be near the little girl.

Her niece was such a lovely child. She was well-behaved, polite and full of energy. Mila would've loved to spent more time with the girl, but it would mean being close to Hayley, which the wolf wasn't yet ready to do. All her sister had caused her so far was pain and it was enough for Mila. She couldn't handle more torment for now and every time she looked at Hayley it again raged through her.

Finally, Mila could walk outside again. She wouldn't let herself be stopped. Surely she needed a change, an escape out of this prison but of course, Elijah would dare stand in his way.

As Mila grabbed her bag and coat, the handsome Original, suited up, which was still so strange for his former girlfriend, blocked the only way out of the compound. She rolled her eyes and wanted nothing more than to rip his head off.

"Where are you going?"

She clenched her fists, while he straightened his suit jacket. He looked down to her with those brown depths. His eyes were still the same, but his whole character was so different. Nothing like the man she fell in love with. This man wouldn't have had the audacity to talk to her like this.

"None of your business."

Mila mumbled and tried to push him away, but his strong hands simply grabbed her. Her eyes gleamed golden as the anger got the best of her. He was pushing her buttons way too much.

"What are we, twelve?"

His face and voice were deadly calm. He really brought it to the point, he was treating her like she was a child. But she wasn't, she could live without him and his lunatic family perfectly fine. Like she had her whole life. It was him that took this away from her and she wouldn't tolerate this any further. Maybe her best option was to hand herself over to this ancient spirit. Or simply run.

"One of us is."

She hissed as she ripped her arm free from his grip. Of course she wouldn't stand a chance against him. But she hoped that he would finally notice how far they'd driven apart. That it came to a point that she loathed him. Mila still loved Elijah deeply, but sometimes love and hate were closer together than they should.

"Mila, it's not save in the city. You could get hurt."

His voice turned a bit softer and for a glimpse of a moment it was the Elijah she fell in love with again. He cared for her. But Mila quickly shook her head. Yes, he cared for her safety, but probably just because she was still useful for his family.

"Well, first, I can do whatever the hell I want. Hope can walk around freely, so I'm not essentially needed anymore. Second, the full moon is close, so just grant me a moment out of this prison before I have to endure another night of pain. Third, I can watch out for myself, thank you."

The young doctor said snarking and finally got to carry on her way, but now it were Elijah's words that stopped her.

"I can't imagine you getting hurt. Mila, I care."

It would be so easy to give in and believe him. But she wouldn't be any better than him if she would throw her whole personality away and become someone else, just to be with him. There was not much self esteem left in her, but the last tiny bit she clung to fortunately kept her from loosing herself completely.

"No, you don't, Elijah. But relax, I'm just going to a hairdresser. I'll be back soon."

She spared him one last glance over her shoulder only to see a hurt expression crossing his attractive face. He didn't follow her. Wise choice.

Some time later Mila found herself in a better mood. She felt like she got a little bit of her free will back. Even if it just was by cutting her hair. The hairdresser was really talented and funny. For the first time since she was here she could bring out a laugh. Her hair was now way shorter, probably easier to style and matched the person Mila wanted to become. Fierce, self confident and strong. She was a werewolf, not a girl that needed to be saved every second.

When she got outside the small shop, it was already dark. The air of the city was still sticky and humid, but Mila got used to it quickly. Sometimes she really felt that this was her home. She had a strong connection to New Orleans and without all this drama, she would have probably felt at home here.

Looking up to the sky, she saw the nearly full moon spending dim light to the empty streets. It created a mystical atmosphere that fitted the place perfectly, but made Mila feel a little anxious. She was obviously suffering from severe PTSD and depression, so a little bit of paranoia was perfectly normal. Or so she thought.

Spending a last glance at the element that now defined most of her life, she went on walking, her pace quickening as she couldn't shake off the feeling of being watched. Since she activated her supernatural heritage, especially her witch side, her ability to sense dangers and upcoming trouble was something she could count on.

Suddenly, five persons approached her. They came from different directions and rounded her up, so she couldn't escape. Lifting their hands, they mumbled a spell Mila recognized as the one she tortured Elijah with before. Pain exploded in her head and she fell to her knees gripping her head.

They were coming closer and closer and with the last strength she had, she tried to fight them by kicking and screaming. But of course she didn't stand a chance. One of the warlocks managed to get a hold of her and tried to drag her with him. Then, when a bloodcurdling cry escaped Mila's lips, this kind of rage combined with pure power pulsated through her veins. She had felt it before, just some days ago, when she lost control of herself for the first time.

Her scream released the huge amount of energy and a wave with a deadly power immediately killed her attackers. The houses around her were shook comparable to an earthquake and the parking car's alarms went off, producing a terrible sound that took Mila back in reality. The palms of her hands cut on the rough ground of the street when she fell down.

Mila just laid still, panting heavily, her vision still blurred. She was deeply in shock. It was the first time she really was responsible for someone's death. When she was turned, it was more or less of an accident, something that was just part of a doctor's job.

This she did on purpose. Of course she did it to defend herself, but every cell of her body wanted to kill these persons.

She couldn't remember how long she simply was stretched out on the cold street until she was found. It was Hayley that would find her. Of course. The person Mila wanted nothing to do with was the one who was kind enough to take her home before she could die of hypothermia. Could werewolves actually die of that? She had no clue.

"Mila, what happened?"

Her sister rushed to her side and tried to help her up, but Mila was shaking, her eyes wide in shock, so she couldn't stand on her own. Her legs would just pass out beneath her.

Hayley took a quick look around taking in the sight of the corpses splattered around her. Mila then noticed that some of their blood stained her face. She desperately tried to clean her face with her dirty and also bloodied hands. Whenever her palms touched something, she hissed in pain as little stones were pushed inside the wounds.

Mumbling and whimpering, she stared at her injured hands until Hayley grabbed her wrists, forcing her to calm down.

"Mila! Look at me. You're save. I'm here. They are all dead. We can go home now."

But where was Mila's home? Surely not in the Mikaelson compound. But she knew where Hayley was getting at.

Mila didn't even really caught that in the meantime, her twin had called Klaus to clean up this mess. Seconds later, the Original hybrid arrived together with Rebekah and Elijah. As the younger siblings started their work to clean the street up the corpses, the older brother came to a halt in front of Mila and cupped her cheek in his hands. He didn't say anything, because he knew that Mila wasn't ready to tell him what happened. At least he knew her that well.

When the smell of her fresh blood hit his senses, he closed his eyes for a second to get himself under control and not scare her. The Hallow was still urging him to drink her blood, but he had learned to ignore it, at least when she wasn't bleeding right in front of him.

Nodding a thank you to Hayley, Elijah lifted Mila up and carried her bridal style back to the compound. He gently placed her inside her bed and looked her up and down to check to which extent she was injured, but thankfully it were just cuts on her hands and knees that needed to be cleaned. The Original disappeared shortly, only to come back with a back full of medical supplies. Still silent, he put on a pair of gloves and arranged the supplies he needed on a small plate which he had placed on the bedside table.

There was this professional expression on his face that made a small smile tug on Mila's lips. It was like the times when they were together in the OR. He was such a brilliant surgeon. Now he wasted his talent on cleaning up her boo boos.

When he applied the disinfection directly onto her wounds, she flinched and held back a hiss of pain. She wished she wasn't that sensitive.

"I'm sorry."

He whispered to which Mila sighed. She watched as he picked out the stones and dirt from her wounds with sterile tweezers. It strangely calmed her. Damn, how much she missed her profession.

"Don't be. I've broke my leg when I was a kid. It was worse."

Elijah smiled lightly, never leaving his work out of sight. Nothing needed to be sewed and her enhanced healing would close the wounds soon.

"Well, Doctor Labonair, you can share more of your childhood stories if you want to. I would be intrigued."

She chuckled and watched with amazement as the wound on the hand he just had cleaned was starting to heal. The edges of skin were dragging towards each other until the wound closed without leaving a scar. In wonder, she moved her fingers, checking if there was any nerve damage.

"Isn't that amazing. How many people we could save if we would find a way to replicate this. Just think about people that suffer from burn wounds!"

For a moment, they were Mila and Elijah again, two people that were connected by their shared passion for medicine. It felt so good. Mila could imagine how it was, how good he looked in his scrubs, with the smell of disinfection and freshly washed clothing all over him. His suit was burning hot, but she would always trade it for his chief of surgery look.

"Keelin is actually working on something similar. You would be a good team, why don't you join her?"

He took them both back into reality quickly, when he definitely excluded himself from the idea. Elijah meant well, Keelin was good for her as she not only shared her passion, but also her species. Something he couldn't be for her anymore. They would never go back to be this couple with only one problem: the fear that someone would see them together and make her colleagues think even lesser of her.

With a hurt expression, Mila nodded and swallowed harshly. It was time to tell him what happened if she couldn't keep up this nice distraction anymore.

"I...I just went out of this shop and I immediately felt watched. Then they cornered me and took me down with a spell. When they tried to kidnap me, I was able to channel like...you know damn much power again. It killed them. Damn, I killed them! Never ever would I've thought that I would be able to murder someone."

She sunk deeper into the mattress, looking away from Elijah. Guilt washed over her. Even tough they were evil minions of the Hollow, they probably had a family. Everyone some kind of strings to the world of the living.

"You didn't murder them, Mila. You did what you had to do."

Elijah sighed and put the supplies aside. The pain faded as the wounds finally healed.

Mila shook her head, trying to put the horrifying image of their brutally massacred corpses away. How could vampires deal with this kind of death every day?

"That isn't me anymore. I never would've killed anyone. It's not in my nature. I need to stop this darkness from spreading and changing me into a monster."

The Original vampire opened his mouth, but was interrupted by Klaus waltzing in together with the rest of the family.

"We can make your wish come true if we finally find out what the Hollow wants with you. No offense darling, but you're quite the wallflower, so there must be something more than you just being some witchy synonym of a catalyst."

Mila rolled his eyes to his charming comment, patting Elijah's arm to stop him from going for his brother's throat. He was still so protective. It was weird.

"Well, what do you want to do to find that out? None of us has any idea about this, nor the access to information."

A devilish grin spread on the hybrid's face and Mila immediately knew that it meant no good. He was a wolf after all, a damn dangerous predator for sure.

"On the contrary, love. You just figured out for us that there are enough minions on the lookout for you. Why don't invite them into the lion's den?"

Everyone let out a sigh and Mila frowned, looking at them for explanation. She always had hated inside jokes she wasn't involved in.

"He wants us to throw a damn party."

Rebekah answered Mila's questioning look.


End file.
